Batavia, NY — The venerable 11-year-old Shoobee Doo A scored his 55th career win and pushed his lifetime earnings north of $600,000 after his very impressive victory in the $13,500 Open Handicap pace, which was one of two featured races at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Sept. 5) night.
Shoobee Doo A (Gareth Dowse) played hardball with Total Stranger (John Cummings Jr.) by parking him past the :27.1 quarter before releasing him to the front. But as soon as Total Stranger cleared, Dowse was right back out with Shoobee Doo A to retake the lead before reaching the half in :55.3. As the race moved onto the second circuit, Nautical Hanover (Kevin Cummings) made a first-over bid and drew within a nose of Shoobee Doo A at the 1:24.4 three-quarters, but the race was far from over.
Positions remained unchanged around turn four but as the horses turned for home, Nautical Hanover faded while Total Stranger entered the passing lane, and Luck Is Up (Brett Macdonald) was flying on the outside and into contention. All three horses made a late push to the wire, but Shoobee Doo A would not relent and won by a neck in 1:54.
It was the seventh win of the year for Shoobee Doo A ($5.06), who has now earned $605,414 lifetime. The gelded son of Shoobee’s Place-Lavish Art is owned by P T Stable and trained by Sheena Cohen.
Later in the other $13,500 Open Handicap, this one a trot, Valentine Express was aired-out the second half of the race and won for the fifth time this season.
Valentine Express (Jim McNeight Jr.) got away third as Shine All The Way (Dave McNeight III) and Treasured Tee (Drew Monti) traded leads en route to the :28.3 quarter. Treasured Tee finally settled in and throttled down to the half and got a break before being confronted by Valentine Express as they motored up the backstretch.
Valentine Express made his way to second in the breeze passing three-quarters in 1:27.1 as Treasured Tee was beginning to feel the heat. By the time the trotters turned for home, Treasured Tee was under siege by Valentine Express on his outside and the tripped-out Shine All The Way, who had dipped into the passing lane. Shine All The Way and Valentine Express both passed Treasured Tee in mid-stretch, but then matched strides all the way to the line where a photo discerned that Valentine Express had won in 1:57.
Valentine Express ($8.02) is owned by Rock 01 Stable and trained by Jerry Nugent Jr.
Joe Chindano Jr., Kevin Cummings and Drew Monti all had two driving wins on Saturday while 11 different trainers each won one race apiece.
Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Monday (Sept. 7) at 12:15 p.m. when Batavia Downs will continue their Labor Day weekend promotions with the annual driver/trainer bicycle race, bicycle giveaway and chicken bar-b-que during the matinee card of racing.
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.