Batavia, NY — BJM’s Lil Man was solid from start to finish and grabbed the winner’s share of the $102,500 purse in Wednesday’s (Aug. 21) New York Sire Stakes for 2-year-old male trotters at Batavia Downs.
Driver Tyler Buter put BJM’s Lil Man right on the point and became a passenger for the ride. With no opposition from behind and under no urging whatsoever, BJM’s Lil Man put up solid fractions of :28.2, :58.4 and 1:27.4 before making his way into the final turn. With Variegated (Braxten Boyd) and Karinchak (Mark MacDonald) trying to make inroads, BJM’s Lil Man turned for home unbothered by their challenge and trotted away to a 1-3/4-length victory in 1:57.1.
It was the fifth win in the last six outings for BJM’s Lil Man ($3.50), and it pushed his career earnings to $146,700 for owner Joseph Meaney. John Berger trains the Devious Man-Vixen colt, who was bred by Donald LaPage.
There were also two $20,000 Excelsior trots for freshman colts and geldings on the card.
The first went to Low Inside (Devious Man-Nowerland Kristen), who won in 2:01.1 for trainer-driver Dan Daley and owners Ann-Mari Daley, Todd Van Alstyne and Margaret Waterbury. Cherry Hill Farm bred the winner.
The second was won by Habanero Blues (E L Titan-Habanero Honey), who trotted the mile in 1:59.4 for driver Tyler Buter, trainer Travis Alexander, and owner-breeder Fiddler’s Creek Stable.
Live racing at Batavia Downs resumes on Friday (Aug. 23) at 6 p.m.
On Saturday (Aug. 24), Batavia Downs will host its biggest card of the meet, which includes two divisions of the New York Sire Stakes for 3-year-old trotters of each sex that total $233,300, and the $100,000 Kane Memorial pace, featuring some of the best older male pacers in north America. The card has a total purse value of over a half-million dollars and has the capacity to produce a new all time track record.
Free full-card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at the Downs’ website.