By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs
(Photos courtesy of Wendy J. Lowery)
Batavia, NY — Driver Brett Macdonald put on a brilliant display of equine erudition Saturday (Sept. 19) night at Batavia Downs as he won seven of the ten races he was carded to steer, including victories in both feature races and posting a natural grand slam in races seven through ten. Four of his seven winners were trained by David Russo, who garnered a grand slam of his own.
The first of those two feature wins was the $13,500 AA-Open Handicap trot where Beacon Beach took full advantage of an inside draw to trip-out to a narrow victory.
Macdonald tucked Beacon Beach into the pocket behind El Toro Loco (Kevin Cummings) and tracked him willingly through quarters of :28 and :59 to the half. Rolling around turn three, Valentine Express (Jim McNeight Jr.) moved first-over in the breeze and drew near El Toro Loco at the 1:29 third quarter. Valentine Express continued to press El Toro Loco around the last bend and took the lead at the head of the stretch. But that lead was tenuous, as Beacon Beach dipped into the passing lane and bolted to the front in the shadow of the wire to win by a nose in 1:58.3.
It was the sixth win of the year for Beacon Beach ($8.14), who is owned by Caeleo Enterprises and Brad Conshafter and trained by David Russo.
Macdonald’s other feature win came in the $13,500 Open Handicap pace with Saulsbrook Victor, whose 41st lifetime win pushed him over the $700,000 mark in earnings.
Macdonald got away last with Saulsbrook Victor, and ten lengths behind Thunder Country (Andy Shetler), who was scooting to the quarter in a swift :27.4. Thunder Country hit the brakes hard in the second panel, which allowed the field to bunch and brought Saulsbrook Victor six lengths closer and moving second-over in the outer flow behind Italian Lad N (Shawn Gray) at the half. Positions remained unchanged to three-quarters, but that’s where Macdonald pulled the trigger with Saulsbrook Victor, who went three-wide and circled the top three. By the time the race reached the head of the lane, Saulsbrook Victor gained the lead and then swelled up and paced away to a 1-¼ length win in 1:55.3.
It was the seventh win of the year for Saulsbrook Victor ($2.34), who is owned by his driver, Brett Macdonald, in partnership with Brent Maclennan. Ronald Macdonald trains the winner.
The “Maroon Fury” also won with Brutus Bayama (1:54.4, $3.28), Run Around John (1:55.3, $8.40), Scrub Hanover (1:57.2, $11.42), Winmebak (1:54.4, $5.98) and Bolt Of Beauty (1:56.2, $2.30).
Macdonald also had a third from his ten starts, giving him a stellar .733 UDR for the evening.
The record for number of wins on a single card at Batavia Downs is nine, set by Jim Morrill Jr. in 2023.
This is the eighth consecutive year that Brett Macdonald has earned in excess of $1 million driving and his over $1.8 million earned to date in 2026 ranks as the second highest of his career. The 30-year-old native of Freelton, Ontario now has 253 wins this year and a career-best UDR of .296. Macdonald also vaulted into second place on the Batavia Downs dash driving list after his big night at The Downs with 43 wins this season, 25 behind the leader, Drew Monti (68).
And as mentioned earlier, David Russo was the top trainer on Saturday after Macdonald steered his Brutus Bayama, Run Around John, Beacon Beach and Bolt Of Beauty to victories. And just like Macdonald, Russo also jumped into second place in the trainer competition, with an updated total of 16 wins and sitting behind only Sam Smith, who boasts a gaudy total of 31 victories to this point of the meet.
Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Sept. 23) at 5 p.m. and there will be a $5,056 carryover in the Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta wager in the 12th race.
Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia Downs can always be downloaded at the track’s website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab. And you can watch all the races live as they happen for free on the Batavia Downs YouTube page.
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Batavia Downs Entries Saturday Sept. 19, 2026 Post Time:5:05 PM
FIRST RACE: CLASS B $8,000 Pace
1 Long Shot Buckets (A Monti) 3-8-3 4-1
2 Connor B (D McNeight) 4-5-2 7-2
3 Pink Floyd Hanover (J Chindano) 8-7-8 9-1
4 Brutus Bayama (B Macdonald) 1-3-5 3-1
5 Cold Decked (W Tomaszewski) 2-3-4 9-2
6 Fox Valley Cayman (S Gray) 6-6-7 6-1
7 Pepper Jack Flash (K Cummings) 7-2-7 15-1
8 Viva Las Vegas N (K Cummings) 5-6-5 15-1
SECOND RACE: CLASS C $6,500 Pace
1 Ideal Artillery (B Macdonald) 5-4-3 9-2
2 Jms Best Bet (K Cummings) 2-2-4 2-1
3 Kid From The Bronx (D McNeight) 7-6-6 7-2
4 Cash Back (S Gray) 1-5-5 7-2
5 Mc Man (K Cummings) 4-5-3 15-1
6 Bryant Seelster (M Baumeister) 6-3-5 15-1
7 Counter Offer (M Whelan) 3-5-2 15-1
8 Dry Ridge Ace (J Cummings) 8-3-4 15-1
THIRD RACE: CLASS B $8,000 Pace
1 D A Magic Mike (D McNeight) 3-4-6 6-1
2 Memphistennessee N (A Monti) 5-2-1 2-1
3 Colton’s Charm (M Baumeister) 7-1-2 6-1
4 Caviart Val (R Fisher) 1-1-7 7-2
5 Lookinlikeamillion (J Cummings) 4-4-1 7-1
6 Double Up N (S McDonough) 6-6-6 15-1
7 Skyway Ballistic (S Gray) 2-1-5 12-1
8 Seaside Sunset (K Cummings) 8-1-2 6-1
FOURTH RACE: CLASS A $9,500 Pace
1 One Corona To Go (S Gray) 2-7-7 3-1
3 Ontop Rainman (M Whelan) 1-6-5 7-1
4 Soul Assassin (A Monti) 3-6-5 2-1
5 Stranger Things (K Cummings) 4-4-7 7-1
6 Pro Beach (B Macdonald) 5-1-6 4-1
7 Fernetti N (J Cummings) 6-9-5 15-1
FIFTH RACE: CLASS D $5,000 Pace
1 Run Around John (B Macdonald) 1-1-3 4-1
2 Bolt Power (J Chindano) 8-3-7 9-1
3 Wayfairen Stranger (W Tomaszewski) 6-3-3 9-1
4 Helsinki (K Cummings) 3-4-7 5-1
5 Contact Zone (A Monti) 2-2-2 5-2
6 Ranzar (S McDonough) 7-7-5 15-1
7 Out On Bail (S Gray) 4-3-6 9-2
8 Bold Bet (D McNeight) 5-7-X 15-1
9 Actor Hanover (R Fisher) 9-5-7 15-1
SIXTH RACE: AA-OPEN $13,500 Trot
1 Star Pilot (S McDonough) 5-6-4 12-1
2 Beacon Beach (B Macdonald) 1-4-5 5-1
3 Dougadougadew (K Cummings) 4-1-5 3-1
4 Fiftyfour K (J Cummings) 6-1-6 5-1
5 El Toro Loco (K Cummings) 3-4-4 2-1
6 Valentine Express (J McNeight) 2-1-4 3-1
SEVENTH RACE: CLASS D $5,000 Pace
1 Bar Down Brisby (S Gray) 6-3-3 3-1
2 Dogfight (A Monti) 2-6-1 5-2
3 Major Authority (W Tomaszewski) 7-6-8 15-1
4 Bet On Buter (M Whelan) 4-8-4 3-1
5 Scrub Hanover (B Macdonald) 1-6-4 6-1
6 Theymakeusbetter (J Cummings) 5-6-6 12-1
7 P L Quarantine (D Bucceri) 8-6-5 15-1
8 Shim (D McNeight) 3-6-8 10-1
EIGHTH RACE: OPEN $13,500 Pace
1 Italian Lad N (S Gray) 5-1-5 5-2
2 Luck Is Up (K Cummings) 4-2-3 3-1
4 Thunder Country (A Shetler) 3-5-1 8-1
5 Saulsbrook Victor (B Macdonald) 1-6-5 6-1
6 Lanjo Lee (K Cummings) 2-6-5 4-1
NINTH RACE: CLASS A-AA $11,000 Trot
1 Munk (D McNeight) 2-2-3 7-2
2 Bars Open (K Cummings) 5-3-1 6-1
3 Chamba (S Gray) 6-2-2 9-2
4 Mucho Macho (J Ricco) 7-2-4 15-1
5 Uncle Archie (K Cummings) 8-1-6 5-2
6 Spanish Room (A Shetler) 3-5-5 15-1
7 Crazy Ritz (J McNeight) 1-3-3 5-1
8 Cool Clifford (A Monti) 4-7-1 9-1
TENTH RACE: CLASS AA $11,000 Pace
1 Trente Deo (A Shetler) 4-7-7 7-1
2 Zander (J Ricco) 3-4-2 15-1
3 Winmebak (B Macdonald) 1-2-3 3-1
4 Toreador Gb (A Monti) 5-5-1 2-1
6 I Aint No Mack (K Cummings) 2-5-2 12-1
7 Moved Bythe Spirit (S Gray) 6-4-6 7-2
ELEVENTH RACE: FM CLASS D $5,000 Pace
1 Infallible Norma (R Fisher) 7-5-2 5-1
2 Spicy Dragon Roll (S Gray) 5-4-2 12-1
3 Fox Valley Tatum (K Cummings) 3-3-7 10-1
4 Always At Night G (A Monti) 6-7-6 15-1
5 Bolt Of Beauty (B Macdonald) 1-3-2 9-5
6 Already Sassy (K Cummings) 2-2-6 5-2
7 In A Wink N (J Chindano) 4-4-7 8-1
8 Beautiful Lights (W Tomaszewski) X-6-6 15-1
TWELFTH RACE: CLASS A $9,500 Pace
1 Premier Dreamer (K Cummings) 4-2-4 3-1
2 Stonecold Cruiser (A Monti) 6-6-6 4-1
3 Yankee Clout (M Whelan) X-4-5 12-1
4 Dance Machine (D Bucceri) 3-3-8 10-1
5 Avion Seelster (D McNeight) 1-4-1 2-1
6 Bold Speed (S Gray) 2-2-7 7-2
7 Sugar Shock (J Chindano) 5-5-1 15-1
THIRTEENTH RACE: CLASS A $9,500 Trot
1 Gone Crazee (A Monti) 4-3-8 3-1
2 Infinity Stone (K Cummings) 1-1-7 5-2
3 Alan (J Ricco) 9-7-4 15-1
4 Latavius (S Gray) 5-2-2 5-1
5 Skyway Professor (W Tomaszewski) 4-2-5 15-1
6 Double Class (B Macdonald) 6-5-8 8-1
7 Rc Enterprise (J Chindano) 7-8-1 15-1
8 Biscoe (J McNeight) 8-2-4 15-1
9 My One Percent (K Cummings) 1-3-7 5-1