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Wednesday night’s (Aug. 17) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Batavia Downs, Saratoga and Running Aces.

My Tallia Ideal holds court in Mares Open at Batavia

Batavia, NY — My Tallia Ideal ($5.50) let her foes do the heavy lifting for the first half of the race and then proceeded to pick up the pieces for an easy victory in the $9,500 Mares Open Pace at Batavia Downs on Wednesday night.

Paul White photo

My Tallia Ideal was a 1:54.3 winner in the Mares Open Pace.

Wanna Rock N Roll (Todd Cummings), Jann Down (Jack Flanigen) and V’la Faire (Wade Tomaszewski) went three-wide around the first turn and then up the backside, scorching a :27.2 quarter in the process. V’la Faire finally claimed the lead and led the girls to the half.

My Tallia Ideal (Dave McNeight III) pulled first-over in advance of that station and floated outside the leader as they went around the clubhouse turn. When they straightened up the backside, McNeight let out the lines and his mare responded in kind. Clearing by the three-quarter pole in 1:26.3, My Tallia Ideal proceeded to stride away from the rest of the field and opened up a four length lead by the time she stopped the timer in 1:54.3, pacing her last quarter in :28. Who Says That (Drew Monti) rallied strong to be second and a very game V’la Faire hung on for third.

It was the second win in three Batavia Downs starts for My Tallia Ideal, both of which were in the top company. The 6-year-old daughter of Western Ideal has now earned $38,775 in 2016 for owners Peter Kibler, Kenneth Owczarczak and Courtney McNeight. Dave McNeight Jr. does the training.

Wins came in multiples for many horsemen on Wednesday night. Drivers Dave McNeight III and Ray Fisher Jr. both had triples while Drew Monti and Kevin Cummings chimed in with doubles. On the training side, Dave McNeight Jr. and Angelo Nappo each sent two horses to the winner’s enclosure for photos.

Racing resumes on Friday night (Aug. 19) at Batavia Downs with the first post set for 6:15 p.m.

— Tim Bojarski

Saratoga
Credit Charger (Credit Winner) scored his first career local victory on Wednesday night at Saratoga Casino Hotel and the young trotter did it in the evening’s $8,000 feature. Trained by young conditioner Evan Hoagland, Credit Charger added Lasix a few weeks ago and after finishing fourth, posted a pair of second place finishes leading up to his try in the Wednesday feature. Frank Coppola Jr. picked up the catch drive behind Credit Charger and situated the 3-year-old trotter in the pocket in the early going. After riding the coat tails of front-running longshot Lindy’ssweetdreams (Jim Devaux) throughout, Credit Charger popped the pocket at the head of the stretch and cruised by to win in a career best 2:00. Lindy’ssweetdreams finished second at odds of 25-1 while Whiskey Hangover (Brian Cross) came on to earn the show spot in a race in which the odds-on favorite didn’t hit the board. Credit Charger, who returned $7.80 to win, is owned by Hoagland Racing LLC.

Running Aces
The featured event on the Wednesday night program at Running Aces was the $15,000 2-year-old Minnesota-sired trot and Liquor’skwikker ($16.80) with driver Rick Magee would post his second lifetime win to pull the upset at 7-1, defeating the heavily favored filly Silent Dreams (Dean Magee) by a head in 2:04.2, a new life’s mark. The winner, a gelding by Matchstick Man, is owned by Ulf Edvard and Susan Holm-Johansen and trained by the former. He now sports earnings of $24,000 from his seven lifetime starts. Imapixieatmidnight (Nick Roland) was home third in the mile. The $11,000 Fillies & Mares Open Trot was also a highlight on the card and would also see an upset as Flashy Lady ($21.00) would pull off a gate-to-wire score, stealing very soft fractions of :31.3 and 1:02.4 before shifting into gear for the final half-mile with 1:31.2 and 1:59.4 as the final two clockings. She trotted home in :28.2 with a final half in :57 to secure the 1-1/2 length tally over 28-1 Cantoria (Rick Magee) and 1-9 favorite My Little Susie (Mooney Svendsen). Flashy Lady is trained and driven by Tim Maier for owner Denise Maier and this victory was her fourth win of the season and 37th lifetime and added to her impressive bankrolls of $34,990 for the season and $371,623 lifetime. Gorilla Monsoon posted a career mile this evening with a dazzling 1:52 performance in reign to Nick Roland for trainer Jessie Pacheco and owner Ron Rettig-Zucchi. This triumph was the 10th lifetime win for the 4-year-old gelding by Cam’s Card Shark and came in just his second start for his current connections. Drivers Rick Magee, Nick Roland, Mooney Svendsen and Luke Plano all posted driving doubles on the Wednesday program. Running Aces is now racing four nights a week through the end of the season, with live action on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. (CDT) and Saturdays and Sundays at 6 p.m. Carryovers for Saturday night include $1,658.78 for the Jackpot Pick-6 and $1,124.07 for the Early Pick-4.