Batavia, NY – The outcome never seemed to be in doubt for the fleet-footed 4-year-old, Twisted Destiny, who commanded the pace throughout the race to win the $50,000 Robert J. Kane Memorial Pace in impressive fashion.
Howlenthehills (Matt Kakaley) was first off the gate and took the lead coming out of turn one. But Twisted Destiny (Shawn Gray) would have none of that and immediately pulled from second and flew to the front before tripping the timer in :27.2. From there, Twisted Destiny reached the half in :56.1 and as the race made its way to the backstretch, the top two horses began to separate from the field.
Twisted Destiny picked up the pace with a :27.2 split and reached three-quarters in 1:23.3, with Howlenthehills 1-¾ lengths behind and the rest of the field four lengths and more off the lead. Gray sat chilly around the last bend as Twisted Destiny was on cruise and only Howlenthehills had a shot in the lane. But that shot was never fired as Twisted Destiny paced home under a high-line and was an easy 2-¼ length winner in 1:50.4, off an eye-popping :54.3 back half.
The time of 1:50.4 was the third fastest mile ever paced in the Kane, ranking behind only Captain Albano (1:50.1 – 2025) and American Dealer N (1:50.2 – 2022).
It was the fifth win of the year for the heavily-backed Twisted Destiny ($3.78), who is owned by Let It Ride Stables, Enviro Stables, Jesmeral Stable and Richard Freese. Virgil Morgan Jr. trains the winner.
Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Aug 26) at 5 p.m. and will feature the New York Sire Stakes 2-year-old trotting fillies.
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.