Evil Eva uses big move to take Batavia Downs pace

Batavia, NY — Evil Eva used a big sweeping three-wide move at the three-quarter pole and powered her way to victory in the $9,000 Fillies and Mares Open Pace at Batavia Downs on Wednesday night.

After Speed McQueen and Ms Michelle D battled in a speed duel for nearly three-quarters of a mile, the pair tired and driver Shawn Gray and the favored Evil Eva ($4.40) were there to pick up the pieces. She took a comfortable lead down the stretch and managed to hold on the rest of the way and scored the victory over a hard charging Hugs Again and Honeybee Hershey.

Evil Eva, who won for the seventh time this season and recorded her third win in her past five starts in the Fillies and Mares Open, went the mile in 1:56.1 after fractions of :27.3, :56.4 and 1:27 were set.

With the win, Evil Eva’s earnings went to $52,250 this season. The 5-year-old is owned by Me Coo Inc. and Jonathon Klee Racing. Alica Gray is the trainer.

It was a good night for Shawn Gray, Batavia Downs’ leading driver, as he scored a driving triple.

Racing resumes on Friday with a 13-race card starting at 6:25 p.m. The Pick-6 starts out with more than $5,500 in the carryover pool.

— Brian Mazurek

Saratoga Casino and Raceway
Wednesday night was another strong night in the freshman campaign of young driver Joe Bongiorno at Saratoga Casino and Raceway. Bongiorno has had a sensational first full season at the track and currently has a higher driver average in 2012 than any other Spa regular other than leading driver Billy Dobson. The 18-year-old Bongiorno added two more wins to his tally on the Wednesday card as claiming pacer Point Of Attack (Jate Lobell) and young pacer Heavenspearlygates (Pro Bono Best) each recorded first over victories on the card. Point Of Attack, who is owned by Joe’s mother Barbara, prevailed for the second time in his last three starts, stopping the timer in 1:54.3 to match his seasonal mark in the evening’s $5,000 claiming pace. Heavenspearlygates had Bongiorno in the sulky for the first time and built up an imposing lead of better than a half dozen lengths before tiring a bit late but holding on for the 1:58.4 career best win. Bongiorno, who started his career in the sulky late last year, is having a breakout year at the Spa, one that will certainly culminate with him receiving the Johnny Page Award later this year, an award which recognizes the track’s top up-and-coming driver.