Batavia, NY — For the second week in a row, The Stunning Nun N took on the best distaff competitors in western New York and came out victorious in the $14,000 Open I Handicap Pace for fillies and mares at Batavia Downs on Wednesday evening (Nov. 23).

Shallow (Ray Fisher Jr.) grabbed the early lead, but was overtaken by The Stunning Nun N (Jim Morrill Jr.), who came flying up the rim at the :28.4 quarter. From there, Morrill controlled the pace with a :58.3 half and 1:27.3 three-quarters, where The Stunning Nun N shook off a minor bid from Miley Rose (Denny Bucceri) but still had a threat looming from the tripping Shallow. At the top of the stretch, The Stunning Nun N had a 1-1/2-length lead. And although Shallow made a charge heading for home, The Stunning Nun N held to form under a line drive from Morrill to win by a length in 1:56.3.

The Stunning Nun N matched her career best with a well-earned Wednesday win at Batavia Downs. Wendy J. Lowery photo.

It was the third top class win for The Stunning Nun N ($4.50) since coming to Batavia and seventh win overall for the year, matching her career best. The 7-year-old daughter of Bettor’s Delight-Christian Doll is owned by trainer Mike Deters in partnership with Joel Warner, John Manning and Barbara Jensen.

It was one of two wins for Deters on the night and one of four for Morrill, who had a natural hat trick in races eight, nine and 10. Those four victories pulled Morrill to within only three wins of current dash leader Kevin Cummings (124-121), who had two wins himself on Wednesday. With only seven live cards of racing left in 2022, this battle will most likely go down to the final night.

Trainers Shawn McDonough, Andy Gardner and Kevin Reynolds Jr. all joined Deters with training doubles Wednesday.

Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Nov. 26) at 6 p.m. The Jackpot Hi-5, in the 13th race, has a $4,796 carryover. Free full past performance race programs for all live race days can be downloaded by visiting the track’s website.