By Tim Bojarski for Batavia Downs
(Photos courtesy of Wendy J. Lowery)
Batavia, NY — The $105,000 New York Sire Stakes for 2-year-old male pacers were at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Aug. 7) and both divisions were won by heavy favorites.
The first $52,500 division went to Thirsty Thursday (Huntsville-Tequila Monday) who equaled his lifetime mark with an impressive outing.
Thirsty Thursday (Matt Kakaley) took the lead from Courts On Fire (Greg Merton) passing the :28.4 quarter and never looked back from there. After getting to the half in :57.4, Thirsty Thursday faced challenges from Oogleville (Jason Bartlett) and Holt Hanover (Mark Macdonald) going to three-quarters, but he turned back both by the top of the lane. As they straightened for home, Thirsty Thursday was under Kakaley wraps and coasted home clean in 1:54.3.
Thirsty Thursday ($2.30) is now three for three lifetime for owners/breeders Flying A Racing Stable and Chuck Pompey. Travis Alexander trains the winning colt.
The second $52,500 split went to Fast Choice (Courtly Choice-Fashion Guru) who also remained undefeated.
Fast Choice (Doug McNair) got away third as Groovin Will (Greg Merton) marched to the half in a very pedestrian 1:01. As the race advanced to the five-eighths, Fast Choice pulled first-over and cleared the front in a :28.2 third panel. From there, Fast Choice bolted home on top by two lengths in a :27.2 closer to win in 1:56.4.
It was the third straight win for Fast Choice ($3.40) who is owned by Ashley Bako and Randy Zane and trained by Jared Bako. Winbak Farm bred the winner.
There were also three $20,000 Excelsior stakes on the card.
The first was won by Southpaw (American Ideal-Love You Bye) in 1:57.1 for driver/trainer/owner/breeder Jimmy Whittemore.
The second went to Digging For Gold (Huntsville-Gold Orchid N) in 1:56.3, driven by Tyler Buter for trainer George Ducharme who co-owns with Jim Winske and Dr. Megan Moschgat. Bamq bred the winner.
The third was won by Invictus (Huntsville-Dark Force) in 1:56.4, driven by Jim Morrill jr. for trainer Roland Mallar and owner Jeffrey Nanna. James Crawford IV bred the winner.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Aug. 10) at 6 p.m.
Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at the Downs’ website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab and all the racing action can be viewed as it happens for free at the Batavia Downs Live Facebook page.