Batavia, NY — A pair of $9,500 conditioned/optional claiming races were featured at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Aug. 8) night and both wins were achieved with off the pace efforts.
In the Class A trot, Mister Squeeze was in the breeze for the last half of the race en route to a new seasonal mark.
Mister Squeeze (Drew Monti) got away fourth and watched as Allsummerlong As (Brett Macdonald) tripped the clock in :28.3 and :59.2. Then as the race passed in front of the stands, Monti tipped Mister Squeeze first-over and started his trek towards the leader.
Mister Squeeze pulled to within a half length of Allsummerlong As at three-quarters before the pair went stride for stride around the far turn. The battle increased as Chapter Twelve (Shawn Gray) shook loose to join the fray heading down the stretch. The three were within a half length of each other when they hit the line, but Mister Squeeze was the winner by that margin in 1:57.4 to post his best mile of the year.
It was the third win of the year for the bettor’s favorite, Mister Squeeze ($2.90), who is owned by his driver, Drew Monti, in partnership with Greg Regan, Nick Michalski and Mike Kiatkowski. Darrin Monti trains the winner.
Then in the Class A pace, Winmebak turned a perfect trip into his fourth win of the year.
Winmebak (Brett Macdonald) pocketed-up behind Itsallaboutfaith N (Drew Monti), who set solid fractions of :27.4, :57.1 and 1:26 to three-quarters before finally being challenged by Bryant Seelster (Mike Baumeister), who ambled his way to second after pulling from fifth past the half.
Bryant Seelster continued to tighten the screws on Itsallaboutfaith N around the last bend and finally took the lead at the top of the lane. That’s where Macdonald left the pocket, swung Winmebak four-wide into the middle of the track and burst to the line under a rigorous drive to take the lead and hold off the late-closing Tonto Returns (Kevin Cummings) by a neck to win in 1:55.4.
Winmebak ($9.42) is owned by his driver, Brett Macdonald, in partnership with Shen Guo. Ronald Macdonald was the winning trainer.
Driver Shawn Gray continues to be on a mission at Batavia Downs this meet as he won another five races on the card Saturday. Gray won with Storybook Bella (1:57.2, $5.64), Kilowatt Kid N (1:56.3, $13.38), Mask On Mask Off (1:57.4, $2.56), Pepper Guy (1:57.1, $3.60) and Hope You Dance (1:58.2, $10.10). Gray also had two seconds and two thirds from his 11 drives, giving him a stout .616 UDR for the evening.
The five wins also vaulted Gray into second place for dash wins at the current meet, now boasting 16 wins. He sits behind the leading Drew Monti, who now has 23 wins, on the strength of his driving triple on Saturday.
There was another huge payout at The Downs on Saturday when the Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta was hit in the 12th race. The combination of 2-3-9-4-7 returned $4,642.49 for the 20-cent wager.
Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Sunday (Aug 9) at 12:15 p.m.
Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia Downs can always be downloaded at the track’s website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab. And you can watch all the races live as they happen for free on the Batavia Downs YouTube page.