Batavia, NY – When Joe Chindano Jr. won the seventh race at Batavia Downs with Mr. Cool Seaeyre N (2:04, $3.00) on Wednesday (Dec. 17) night, he registered his 1,000th career driving victory on a statement night that saw him win a total of four races.
Chindano was introduced to harness racing by his father, Joe Sr. and mother Theresa, who operate their own racing operation, and has been driving horses since he was 13-years-old. He made his first start, his first win, when he drove Kevin’s Apple to victory in a matinee race at Goshen Historic Track in 2012. From there, he went on to drive at New York county fairs from 2015 to 2017. In 2017, he also got his provisional license and started driving at pari-mutuel tracks.
Since then, Chindano has driven at all tracks in New York state plus Pocono Downs, Rideau Carlton and The Meadowlands, and was a regular winter resident at Pompano Park from 2019 until 2022 when state decoupling legislation was passed, paving the way for the storied Florida oval to be permanently shuttered.
Chindano has been a member of the Western New York driving colony for several years now and has become a sought after catch driver on a nightly basis. Since 2023, Chindano has won 242 races and earned in excess of $1.8 million in purses at Batavia Downs alone.
For his 6,596 career starts, Chindano also has 948 seconds and 900 thirds to go along with his 1,002 wins, giving him a lifetime UDR of .280. Chindano just recently eclipsed $7 million in career earnings as well.
For the year overall, Chindano will close out 2025 posting career totals for wins (1,001) and earnings ($1.65 million) and both by a good margin. At the current Batavia Downs meet, Chindano sits second for wins with 83, along with 81 seconds and 79 thirds with earnings of over $625,000.
Chindano later won the featured $8,800 Class-A fillies and mares pace with Major Megan, who led through quarters of :29, 1:00.3 and 1:29.3, before turning for home and holding off the pesky Tres Chic Bluechip (Drew Monti) to win by three-quarters of a length in 2:00.1.
Major Megan ($4.86) is owned by Summer Wind Stable of NY and trained by Ron Beback Jr.
Chindano completed his grand slam with Echo Demeautis Fr (2:04.4, $6.52) and Cool Clifford (2:03.4, $4.80).
In the sixth race, Maczaffair N (Shawn McDonough) scored her 50th lifetime win with a 3-½ length romp in 2:02. The classy 12-year-old New Zealand mare, owned by Morrison Racing Stables and trained by her driver, has now earned $610,337 in career bank.
Trainer Candace Brandstatter-Hall led all conditioners on Wednesday by winning three races on the card. Brandstatter-Hall won with Grinder (2:03, $23.34) along with the aforementioned Echo Demeautis Fr and Mr. Cool Seaeyre N, who both helped Chindano reach his goal.
Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Dec. 20) at 5:00 p.m. for the final time this year.
On Saturday, there will be two $10,000 guaranteed pools and both will be “must pays” to close out the meet.
There is a $1,312 carryover in the Pick-5 wager in the first race and a $2,004 carryover in the Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta in the 15th race, and management at Batavia Downs is going to guarantee both pools at $10,000 with a mandatory payout on closing day. The guarantee is made in conjunction with the United States Trotting Association’s Strategic Wagering Program and as such, free full past performance forms will be free to download (when available) for all races involved in both wagers from the USTA website (ustrotting.com) under the Handicapping tab.
And remember, free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at The Downs’ website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab. Then you can watch all the races live as they happen for free on the Batavia Downs YouTube page.