By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs
(Photos courtesy of Wendy J. Lowery)
Batavia, NY — Two Opens totaling $26,000 were on tap at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Oct. 19) night and a show of force was displayed by both winners.
The $13,000 Open pace went first and was scratched down to a five-horse field that Livonjaxsandqueens (Jim McNeight Jr.) beat from start to finish.
McNeight pushed Livonjaxsandqueens to the fore and settled on the lead passing the :28 quarter. With Comet Crusader N (Shawn McDonough) following from second, Livonjaxsandqueens got to the half in :57.3 and three-quarters in 1:26.2 where the top two lost touch with the rest of the field. Livonjaxsandqueens spun through the final bend and at the top of the stretch, Comet Crusader N pulled and tried to catch the leader. But he came up a half length short as Livonjaxsandqueens crossed first in 1:54.3.
It was the sixth win of the year for Livonjaxsandqueens ($5.70) who is owned by Howard Ouriel and trained by Jim Rothfuss.
Then in the $13,000 Open Handicap trot, El Toro Loco (Kevin Cummings) poured it as he thumped the competition.
City Of Hope (John Cummings Jr.) grabbed the lead at the quarter but almost immediately, El Toro Loco took it from him and for all intents and purposes, the race was over at that point. El Toro Loco had an easy 1-½ length advantage to the half in :57.1 and three-quarters in 1:26.3. Then coming out of the last turn, El Toro Loco bolted from the field and stretched out to a 5-½ length margin at the beam that he broke in 1:56.2.
El Toro Loco ($7.90) is owned by Mike Torcello and trained by Sam Smith.
Kevin Cummings ended the night with a total of three wins while Sam Smith concluded the card with two. Darrin Monti also had two wins and joined Smith as the top trainers for the night.
The Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta was hit the last race. The single unique combination of 1-6-9-5-2 returned $7,090.10 for a 20-cent wager.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Oct. 23) with post time at 6:00 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.