by Brian Mazurek, for Batavia Downs

Batavia, NY — Shawn Gray had never driven a race on the Batavia Downs half-mile track until Monday night (July 23). It didn’t take him long to make himself feel right at home when the pacers and trotters returned for the 66th season at Batavia Downs Casino.

Gray, who captured the 2012 Buffalo Raceway driving title with 206 wins, started right where he left off at Buffalo, with a driving triple. The track promoted opening night as a battle between Gray, Dan Noble and Jim Morrill, Jr. But the night belonged to Gray.

Paul White photo

Backbeat Hall with Shawn Gray in the sulky is all alone at the wire in the fourth race on opening night.

Gray needed just a race to make any adjustments as he scored his first win on the Batavia Downs surface, guiding Need Help Here ($7.70) home in the second race. He followed that up with wins aboard Backbeat Hall ($14.80) in the fourth race and Bobsujak ($10.00) in the tenth.

“I don’t know what to expect,” Gray said before Monday’s 12-race card. “The track is definitely different and we’ll have to make some adjustments as compared to Buffalo.”

Another driver making his debut at Batavia Downs was Dan Noble. He found the winner’s circle twice as he drove Vijay’s Luck ($6.10) and Mystical Maid ($7.90) to victories.

Jim Morrill, Jr., the track’s all-time leader in wins and purse earnings, took the nightcap with heavily favored Artillery Major while John Cummings, Jr. brought home a pair of winners.

It was a perfect night for the season opener as an 85 degree temperature, clear sky and balmy breeze greeted the estimated crowd of more than 3,000 fans.

Batavia Downs’ Live Racing General Manager Todd Haight was pleased with the opening night crowd.

“The big crowd was nice to see and the handle was very good, especially early in the program. We’re definitely off to a good start.”

Haight noted that the first race win pool was the largest opening night first race pool at Batavia Downs since 2002.

Racing resumes on Wednesday night with a 12-race card set to begin at 6:25 p.m. The feature will be the $9,000 Open Pace for fillies and mares. Ella V Horse was installed as the 2-1 morning line favorite. Dan Noble is scheduled to drive Ella V Horse who is coming off a 1:57 qualifier at Buffalo. She scores from post two. Evil Eva is the second choice for driver Shawn Gray at 3-1. Starting off the rail, Evil Eva seeks to improve on her six-win total and more than $40,000 in seasonal earnings.