Batavia, NY — Perfect weather and a lightning fast track greeted the top pacers on the grounds at Batavia Downs on Saturday evening (Aug. 14) and the winners turned out some eye-popping times.

The $11,200 Open I Pace went to Lord Willoughby A. Paul White photo.

The $11,200 Open I Pace went to Lord Willoughby A (Ray Fisher Jr.) who took the lead at the quarter and never looked back. Fisher went unchallenged to a well rated :56.1 half before two-time Batavia Open winner Art Scene (Jim Morrill Jr.) came calling in the breeze as the group headed to three-quarters.

Art Scene’s challenge ended before the start of the final turn and Lord Willoughby A opened up a two length lead as he headed into the stretch. With one last challenge from the pocket-sitting Thor De Vie (Kevin Cummings) to deal with, Lord Willoughby A swelled up under Fisher’s urging, fought off that foe and won by one length in 1:53.2.

It was the fifth win of the year and 30th of his career for Lord Willoughby A ($17.40) and his owner/trainer Larry Stalbaum.

In the $10,000 Open II secondary pacing feature, Stratosphere (Drew Monti) followed American Zest A (Ray Fisher Jr.) through quarters of :27, :55.3 and 1:23.3 before pulling the pocket at the head of the stretch to overtake the leader under a confident hand-drive by Monti to win by three-quarters of a length in a lifetime best 1:52.1.

The time of 1:52.1 was the second fastest mile of the current meet behind Racine Bell’s 1:51.3 effort on Wednesday (Aug. 4).

It was the second win in a row and 25th lifetime victory for Stratosphere ($8.20) who is driven by his owner Drew Monti. Darrin Monti trains the winner.

The Jackpot Super Hi-5 wager in race 10 had one winner with the unique winning ticket combination of 1-3-7-5-2 and they collected $3,020.40 for the 20-cent wager.

When live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Sunday (Aug. 15) there will be two carryover pools available. The Pick-5 in races one through five will have a $1,153 carryover and the Jackpot Pick-6 in race four will have a $1,611 carryover. Post time for the first race is 1:15 p.m.