By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs
(Photos courtesy of Wendy J. Lowery)
Batavia, NY — Even though the weather was ice cold, driver Joe Chindano Jr. was red hot at Batavia Downs on Thursday (Jan. 9) afternoon as he won a total of six races on the card, including a natural hat trick in races 13, 14 and 15 to close out the day’s action.
Chindano scored with Lyons Johnnyjnr (1:58.1, $4.50), Communion Money (1:58.3, $5.00), Littelbitaswagger (1:57.3, $7.00), Da Ghetto wizard (1:56, $4.80), Flames Of Fire (2:00.2, $3.70) and Legal Bettor (1:56.3, $9.60). Chindano also had a second and a third from his 11 drives, giving him a stellar .626 UDR for the program.
Chindano’s first, fourth and fifth winners were trained by Candace Brandstatter-Hall, who led all trainers for the day with her triple.
Two races Chindano did not win were the pair of feature races that had solid miles turned in by both winners, despite the winter conditions.
The pacers lined up first in their $13,000 Open Handicap and Melanion N (Drew Monti) picked up where he left off at Batavia last December, which was in the winner’s enclosure, after returning from a short, unsuccessful excursion to Ohio before Christmas.
Melanion N got away last off the gate while Mach Le More A (Dave McNeight III) dashed to the half in :58.3 on the point. Heading onto the second circuit, Primo Oumo (Jim McNeight Jr.) moved first-over from fourth and Monti followed with Melanion N, one out and one back in fourth. Approaching three-quarters, Melanion N was sent three-deep to the front and took that position into the stretch. As the race was heading for home, Melanion N bolted away by 2-¼ lengths to win easily in 1:55.3.
Melanion N ($2.70) is owned by Vogel and Wags Nags, Team Rice Racing and Dr. Michael Miller and trained by Maria Rice.
Monti and Rice also scored with Lip Reader A ($4.10) for Vogel and Wags Nags and Team Rice Racing in the $11,000 upper-level conditioned pace in 1:55.2. Monti finished the night with a total of three wins.
Later in the card, the trotters lined up for their $13,000 Open Handicap tilt and the Saratoga Raceway invader, Malibu Kid (Larry Stalbaum), took a lot of air before firmly planting his flag at the finish line.
Johnny Boy (Kevin Cummings) was the commander of fractions from the start, going :28.4 and :59.3 to the half with Discus Hanover (Drew Monti) drafting in the garden spot. Stalbaum had Malibu Kid out and rolling from fifth before that point and was now third on the outside heading into turn three. Malibu Kid continued to grind in the breeze and made his way to second at three-quarters as Johnny Boy clung to the front heading around the last bend. When they straightened for home, Johnny Boy, Malibu Kid and Discus Hanover were all within a length of each other and it was a cavalry charge to the line. As they entered deep stretch, Malibu Kid got up in time and claimed a measured 1-¼ length victory in 1:58.1.
Malibu Kid ($4.80) is owned by Shark Racing and trained by his driver, Stalbaum.
The Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta was hit in race 15. The single unique combination of 2-1-3-6-9 returned $1,866.80 for a 20-cent wager.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Monday (Jan. 13) at 3:00 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.