By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs
(Photos courtesy of Wendy J. Lowery)
Batavia, NY — It was lights, camera, action for Famous Dan on Friday (Nov. 1) night after he muscled his way to the top and then cruised home a winner in the $9,500 featured trot at Batavia Downs.
Kevin Cummings and Famous Dan fought with Arrakis (Joe Chindano Jr.) and Topolino (Dave McNeight III) to the quarter in :28.2 before crossing-over to the lead he would maintain for the remainder of the race. Once in control, Famous Dan trotted to the half in :59.4 and three-quarters in 1:29.3 where he started to pull away from the field. Unchallenged from there, Famous Dan swung around the final bend, entered the top of the lane and found his way home the best by five in 1:58.4.
Famous Dan ($3.00) is owned by Mike Torcello and trained by Sam Smith.
There was a major upset in the last race on the card when Bolt Of Beauty (1:58, Kyle Cummings) made a three-quarters, three-wide move to victory at 40-1 and paid $82.50 to win. It also triggered a single unique Jackpot Super Hi-5 combination of 8-9-5-3-1 that returned $2,910.30 for a 20-cent wager.
Dave McNeight III topped all drivers on Friday with three wins while trainers Betty Clegg and John Leggio each won two.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Nov. 2) 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.