Batavia, NY — After two narrow defeats in the top Open class at Batavia Downs, Windsun Charlotte took full advantage of some class relief and got the win in the featured $10,000 pace for fillies and mares on Wednesday (Sept. 16) night.
Windsun Charlotte (Dave McNeight III) took her usual off-the-pace position after leaving the gate and watched Hurrikane Lori Ann (Kevin Cummings) lead the girls to the quarter in :28.1, with the heavily favored Machs Legacy A (Drew Monti) sitting in the pocket. After moving through turn two, an outer-flow formed and was led by Gentrify (Brett Macdonald), who was quickly picked up by Windsun Charlotte who was happy to draft the last half.
The contestants then made their way up the backstretch to three-quarters in 1:26.3, where Windsun Charlotte tipped three-deep. Now moving through the turn, there were three mares across the track from the pylons out: Hurrikane Lori Ann, Gentrify and Windsun Charlotte in that order. Everyone held their place among the tightening pack but when they entered the stretch, Windsun Charlotte exerted herself and bolted away as McNeight reclined in the bike, winning by a length in 1:55.4.
It was the fourth victory of the year for Windsun Charlotte ($12.28), who is owned by Deborah Fredrickson and trained by Cassandra Johnson.
McNeight III, aka “Triple Sticks”, had a triple at the lines on Wednesday.
However the leading driver for the night was Brett Macdonald, who scored a grand slam during the program. Macdonald won with Cold Road Soda (1:56.2, $11.64), Captain Chelsey (1:59, $10.52), Lorraine Smoke (1:57.1, $5.80) and Four finger Floyd (1:56, $19.98).
Shawn Macdonough topped all trainers on Wednesday as he registered a hat trick of his own. Those winners included Cold Road Soda and Lorraine Smoke, who were driven by Macdonald, along with Allsmokeandmirrors (1:56.1, $2.52).
Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Thursday (Sept. 17) at 2 p.m. and there will be a $788 carryover pool in the Pick-5 wager in the first race, and the management of Batavia Downs has announced that the pool will be guaranteed at $3,000 through the United States Trotting Association’s Strategic Wagering program. As part of that program, Trackmaster will provide free full past performance program pages that can be downloaded (when they become available) at handicapping.ustrotting.com.
There will also be a $4,102 carryover in the Jackpot Hi-5 pentafecta wager in the 10th 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.