Batavia, NY – On Friday (Oct. 10), Batavia Downs held its annual breast cancer awareness fundraiser in partnership with the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester (N.Y.), which has become a major function on the yearly calendar. The 2024 event raised in excess of $25,000 and the hope is to surpass that amount again this year.
Among the many activities that were conducted during the sold-out event to raise funds and awareness to fight this dreaded disease, the fifth race was named the $7,500 Breast Cancer Awareness Pace and featured horses from seven female trainers who were invited to enter. And the race was won by Mateo who is trained by Jami Chatt.
Drew Monti sent Mateo right to the front and turned back all comers from the start. After getting to the half in :59.4, Mateo took on challenges from Mason Street (Dave McNeight III) and Barry Hanover (Justin Huckabone) from the three-quarters to the line but fought hard for the cause to fend them off and won by a length in 1:58.3.
It was the 31st lifetime win for Mateo ($7.92), and it pushed the 11-year-old gelded son of Blue Burner’s career bankroll to $382,241. Chatt also co-owns Mateo with his driver, Drew Monti.
The other trainers in the race were (from post one out) Lynn Fisher, Courtney Wright, Judy Blaun, Ann Yurenka, Cassandra Johnson and Sophie Norton.
There were also a lot of other lady trainers who sent out winners all night long at Batavia Downs including Sheena Cohen (Brookview Darius-1:58.3, $4.36), Maria Rice (Munk-1:59.1, $6.80), Tammy Cummings (My One Percent-1:59.4, $19.30 and Always Choose Chip-1:58.4, $2.28), Mae Smith (Huntsville Place-1:58.2, $8.72), Candace Brandstatter-Hall (Grinder-1:59.4, $9.78) and Taylor Fritz, who won the regular featured race of the night, covered below.
After a two week break from action, Starlitcresentroll was “poppin’ fresh” and went gate to wire to claim his first win since August in the $10,000 AA trotting feature.
Drew Monti pushed Starlitcresentroll to the lead off the gate and hit the quarter in :29 flat while Latavius (Jim Morrill Jr.) sat snug in the pocket. After throttling down the second quarter to a pedestrian :31.1, Monti hit the gas and Starlitcresentroll went :28.4 up the backside, thwarting an outside blitz attempt from Double Class (Kyle Cummings), who only made it to third. At the top of the lane Starlitcresentroll had a 1-1/2 length lead, but Latavius made a run at the leader and made it interesting. However, Latavius’ best effort fell three-quarters of a length short as Starlitcresentroll tripped the beam first in 1:58.3.
It was the seventh win of the year for Starlitcresentroll ($13.26), and it raised his seasonal earnings to $59,090, which are both career highs. Starlitcresentroll is owned by Lucky Label Stable and trained by Fritz.
Kyle Swift led all drivers Friday with three wins on the card while trainers Tammy Cummings and Chris Petrelli scored two wins apiece to lead their category.
The $5,000 guaranteed pool in the Pick-5 wager on Friday turned out to be a major score for some lucky punters. The combination of 1-4-2-6-2 returned $1,972.61 for the 50-cent wager.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Oct. 11) with post time at 6 p.m. and there will be a $2,630 carryover in the Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta in the 12th race.
Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at The Downs’ website under the “Live Racing” tab. Then you can watch all the races live as they happen for free on the Batavia Downs YouTube page.