Batavia, NY — Twin Opens valued at $12,800 each were featured at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Sept. 27) evening and fast times were turned in by their respective winners.
The Open handicap trotters went first and off the gate, Dealin With Dewey (Brett Macdonald) outbattled Crazy Ritz (Jim McNeight Jr.) to the quarter in a swift :27 as Makes Me Charlie (Mike Baumeister) sat third watching the action. After backing down the half to :57.3, Delain With Dewey got a call from El Toro Loco (Kevin Cummings) on the backside and eventually relinquished his lead to the interloper by a head at three-quarters, but held sway around the last turn and was still only one-quarter length behind when they entered the stretch. Then from out of nowhere, Makes Me Charlie found racing room and came flying to the line to score the upset by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:56.2.
It was the fourth win of the year for Makes Me Charlie ($26.80) who is owned by his trainer, Margaret Butler, in partnership with Amy Butler.
Then in the Open Handicap for male pacers, Lanjo Lee (Kyle Cummings) and Natameri (Kevin Cummings) traded leads to the quarter with Natameri taking control at that :27 flat station. With things settled on the front, action started from behind when Mirragon A (Jim Morrill Jr.) pulled first-over at three-eighths and towed Lyons Surfing (Kyle Swift) along with him.
Mirragon A continued to make up ground on Natameri and finally cleared the lead at three-quarters, while Lyons Surfing gapped his cover, but then kicked into gear three-deep just before turn four. As they spun out of that bend, Mirragon A took the lead into the stretch. But it was Lyons Surfing who bolted and pulled away from the field to win by 1-½ lengths in 1:53.
It was the 11th win of the year for Lyons Surfing ($7.04) who is owned by PT Stable and trained by Gareth Dowse.
Jim Morrill Jr. scored another five winners on Saturday’s card, bringing his win total for the past week at The Downs to 25. Morrill won with Rockin Withelvis A (1:55, $2.20), Dontbothermenone A (1:54.2, $4.86), Red Blooded (1:53.4, $2.44), Final Game (1:54.4, $3.96) and Entrench (1:54, $3.94). Morrill also had three seconds and four thirds out of his 13 drives, giving him a .615 UDR for the night. Saturday’s output also vaulted Morrill into second place among all drivers in North America for percentage performance this year.
Mike Deters topped all trainers with two wins on the card.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Oct. 1) with post time at 6:00 p.m. and there will be a carryover of $3,425 in the Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta in the 13th race.
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. Then you can watch all the races live as they happen for free on the Batavia Downs YouTube page.