Batavia, NY — The shortest route to the wire is a straight line and that’s the path Chapter Twelve and Double Up N both took to win a pair of $9,500 feature races at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Aug. 15) night.
In the Class A trot, Chapter Twelve (Shawn Gray) went right to the front as the heavy betting favorite and posted consistent quarters of :29.3, :29.4 and :29.4, to reach three-quarters in 1:29.1, while Bluemoon Guide (Andy Shetler) tracked from the garden spot and the rest of the field tried to keep up. By the time Chapter Twelve made his way through the last turn, he opened up a 2-1/2-length lead and held sway with that margin when he crossed the line first in 1:59.3.
It was the second win in the last three starts for Chapter Twelve ($4.32), who is owned by Jagged Brook Farms and trained by Sam Smith.
Then in the Class A pace, Double Up N (Dave McNeight III) left like a rocket and blasted to the quarter in :27.4, on top by 3-3/4 lengths. As post time favorite Tonto Returns (Kevin Cummings) sat a loose pocket, Double Up N reached the half in :57.2 and braced as 27-1 shot Ideal Perfect Ten (Gray) and 28-1 shot Odds On Anubis (Shetler) were out and rolling and making up ground fast. The group passed three-quarters and entered turn four with Double Up N still in control, but Odds On Anubis had moved into second and was only 1-1/2-lengths behind entering the stretch. The top two horses matched strides to the finish where Double Up N hung on to win by one-half length in 1:56.1.
It was the fourth win of the year for Double Up N ($5.36), who is owned by Lucky Label Stable and trained by Taylor Fritz.
Driver Drew Monti had a grand slam in the bike on Saturday. Monti won with My Mind Is Madeup (1:56.4, $20.22), Baby Yoda (2:00.1, $5.06), Street Art (1:57.3, $2.76) and Pembroke Red (2:01, $15.66), while 11 different trainers all won one race apiece.
Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Sunday (Aug. 16) at 12:15 p.m. and please note that this will be the last Sunday matinee card of the meet.
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.