from harness publicists across North America

Wednesday’s (Sept. 30) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Harrington Raceway and Batavia Downs.

Racing Roundup: Powerful Charger wins third straight at Harrington

Harrington, DE — Jim King Jr. and Tim Tetrick’s Powerful Charger ($3.20, Victor Kirby) notched his third straight win Wednesday in the $16,000 Open Trot at Harrington Raceway with a 1:56.2 win.

The 3-5 betting favorite swung wide on the final turn and outkicked I’m So Striking late for a narrow win. Spunky Jack was third.

Powerful Charger has banked more than $123,000 in 2015 for trainer/co-owner King Jr. It was the second win of four on the program for Kirby. Ross Wolfenden and George Dennis each had a pair of wins. Live racing continues on a Monday through Thursday schedule at Harrington through October 22.

— Matt Sparacino

Batavia Downs
Taking full advantage of post and position in the race, Climate Hanover ($5.10) scored an impressive victory in the $8,500 Open Mares Pace at Batavia Downs on Wednesday night. Starting from the pylons, Climate Hanover (Drew Monti) yielded the lead to a hard charging Country Delight (Jack Flanigen) who left from post eight. With the field then following the leader in post position order, Country Delight led the girls to a modest :58 half. Past that station, Call Me Maybe (Shawn McDonough) was motoring on the outside and drew near-even with the leader at three-quarters in 1:26.4. Those two then battled on top until the head of the stretch when the passing lane opened and left clear passage for the pocket-sitting Climate Hanover to shoot through and pull away to a two length victory in 1:55.4. It was the seventh win of the year for the 5-year-old Western Ideal mare and the winner’s share of the purse boosted her 2015 income to $57,284 for owner James Caradori. Climate Hanover is trained by Darrin Monti.
Climate Hanover’s triumph capped off a three-win night for driver Drew Monti, who also took post-race pictures with Maradona ($14.60) and Old Mcheath ($11.40). Drivers Dave McNeight III and Ray Fisher Jr. also had driving doubles. Batavia Downs returns live on Friday night (Oct. 2) with a 12-race card that will begin at 6:35 p.m.