Two GSY events were carded on Friday (Feb. 24) night under a fast track with frigid conditions and a negative one track variant.
Author: by Matt Zuccarello-GSY Series Reporter
Batavia featured Pop-Up Series finals
Four finals of the Western New York Pop-Up Series headlined the card at Batavia Downs on Monday (Feb. 20) with a total of $63,000 distributed between those events.
Esplosione $91,000 sale caps busy Monday at OnGait.com
The 4-year-old trotter Esplosione 3,1:53.4s led Monday’s (Feb. 20) auctions at onGait.com when he sold to Yolanda Fellows of Ontario for $91,000. Consigned by Nifty Norman, the son of Kadabra has a speed badge of 1:53.4 and was fresh off a second-place finish at Yonkers.
The Raceway at Western Fair shifts qualifying/training to Friday this week
Due to the pending ice storm expected to hit southwestern Ontario on Wednesday (Feb. 22) into Thursday (Feb. 23), The Raceway has switched both its training and qualifying until Friday (Feb. 24) of this week.
Batavia Downs sets another record handle on Monday
It was just last week that Batavia Downs set its own handle bar higher after seeing $340,602 pass through betting portals both at the track and at simulcast outlets. That total became the highest on record since Western Regional Off Track Betting reopened the Downs in 2002. However on Monday (Feb. 6) — only one week later — that record was broken again after $348,205 was wagered on the very competitive third leg card made up of 12 divisions of Western New York Pop-Up Series participants that put on quite a show on the track.
Batavia Downs sets a new all-time betting mark on Monday
It was an historic day for the oldest lighted harness track in North America on Monday (Jan. 30) after the bettors came out in force and pumped $340,602 through the windows (from all sources) on 13 races to set a new all-time single card betting mark at Batavia Downs. That total is the highest handle since Western Regional Off Track Betting reopened the Downs in 2002 and surpassed the old total of $339,000 which was realized over 14 races during the 2019 New York Sire Stakes Night of Champions finals.
Meadows Monday Memo
Here is this week’s Meadows Monday Memo
Glasser and Clark Jr. Winners in GSY Events at the Meadowlands
With two GSY events carded for Friday (Jan. 27) night, it was a second straight week of double-digit winners, bucking the early trend from the beginning of this year. Are winning favorites again a thing of the past in the GSY?
William “Bill” Blake Jr., 83, dies
William “Bill” Blake Jr. passed away on Saturday, January 21, 2023, following a recent stroke. He was 83.
Batavia Downs kicked off Western New York Racing Series Monday
On Monday (Jan. 23), Batavia Downs began a four-week Pop-Up Racing Series for Western New York-based Trackmaster pacers and trotters with preliminary leg classes going for between $6,000 and $9,000 each (depending on class). Monday saw 10 series races go postward and these events provided some very competitive racing.