by Tim Bojarski, Batavia Downs Media Relations

Batavia, NY — As the weather gets cold Voltinagets hot and she proved it by winning the $10,000 Fillies and Mares OpenHandicap Pace at Batavia Downs on Wednesday evening (Nov. 29), which was herthird victory in her last five starts in the top class.

Paul White photo

Voltina won the $10,000 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace at Batavia Downs on Wednesday evening (Nov. 29).

Voltina (Kevin Cummings) fired off the gate andtook the lead with lightning speed. Squeeze This (Billy Davis Jr.) also leftfrom post seven but took a quarter mile to clear. As soon as she did, Voltinacame right back to grab the front and that was all she wrote.

As Voltina took the field to the half in :57.2 andthree-quarters in 1:26, she scoffed at minor challenges from Hey Kobe (ShawnMcDonough) and Who Says That (Ray Fisher Jr.) and kept to her task around thefinal turn. As they headed down the lane Cummings was flailing the lines andopened up a two-length advantage with Voltina looking lively. But one last testcame from Mydelight Bluechip (Ben Mcniel) who shook loose in the passing laneand came with a rush. However, Voltina was stout and hung on to win by a lengthin 1:55.2.

Having the best year of her life, Voltina ($8.20)scored her eighth victory of 2017 and bolstered her wallet to $69,456. The7-year-old daughter of Allamerican Native is owned by CHS Racing LLC and istrained by Anthony Cummings.

In the co-featured $8,000 distaff Open II, LittleJoke (Billy Davis Jr.) took back and followed quick early fractions beforepulling second-over at the half behind America Ferrera (Kevin Cummings) andeventually overtook her at the top of the stretch and pulled away to a sixlength romp in a 1:55.

Now two for two since arriving at the Downs, LittleJoke ($6.00) has eight wins and $51,435 on the year for owners Vogel & WagsNags Stable and Jack Rice. Maria Rice trains the winner.

Driver Kevin Cummings who continues to be thehottest driver on the grounds at Batavia, scored four more wins on Wednesdaynight. Besides taking the feature with Voltina, he also won with Fie Fy Fo (1:57.1,$9.70), Our Last Photo (2:00.1, $3.20) and Goldstar Thumper (1:57.3, $53.00).

In the last 10 cards of racing at Batavia, Cummingshas won 28 races and now has 102 wins for the meet. He currently sits in fourthplace for dash wins behind Larry Stalbaum (117), Ray Fisher Jr. (114) and DrewMonti (110) and with seven nights of racing left, has a legitimate shot at thedriving title.

Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Friday (Dec. 1)at 6 p.m.