Art Scene takes feature

Batavia, NY — It was Open season for harness racing pacers at Batavia Downs on Saturday night (Oct. 23) as four divisions of top class sidewheelers went postward with an Open I, two Open II’s and an Open III pace going for a total of $48,950 in purses.

The feature race was the $13,500 Open I Handicap and Art Scene (Jim Morrill Jr.) closed with a rush to claim the top prize.

Jim Morrill Jr. sat a patient in second with Art Scene (American Ideal) from the start as Crockets Cullen N (Larry Stalbaum) took control at the quarter. With the race in single file for most of the journey, Crocketts Cullen N backed the half down to :57.2 and reached three-quarters in 1:25.2. As the six pack spiralled off the far turn, Art Scene came off the pylons and he did it with authority. Morrill drove hard down the lane and Art Scene pulled away to a one length win in 1:53.3.

It was the fifth win of the Batavia meet and sixth overall in 2021 for Art Scene ($4.40) and owners Vogel & Wags Nags, Team Rice Racing and Adelphi Bloodstock. Art Scene is conditioned by Maria Rice.

Then there was the pair of $12,100 Open II Handicaps that both provided very exciting finishes with opposite strategies being employed.

In the first, Toot Toot N (Kyle Cummings) drafted along fourth as Catch A Lefty A (Mike Baumeister) cut the quarters through the first three turns. But then things got interesting when Thor De Vie (Larry Stalbaum) and Santana Beach (Drew Monti) put on some big pressure three-deep around the last curve, where Toot Toot N (Kyle Cummings) swung four-wide around everyone and won by ½ length in 1:55.1.

Toot Toot N ($5.30) is owned by Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi and is trained by Jim Clouser Jr.

The second division was a drop-and-pop for Surfer Beach (Jim Morrill Jr.) who took the lead from Raksmach N (Larry Stalbaum) at the quarter and then led most of the race by a gapped advantage to the top of the stretch where he pulled away to a 3-¼  length win in 1:53.1.

Nine wins are now in the books this year for Surfer Beach ($3.60) for owners Vogel & Wags Nags, Team Rice Racing and Adelphi Bloodstock. Maria Rice trains the winner.

The $11,250 Open III Handicap was another speedy event that saw Lord Willoughby A (Larry Stalbaum) take the lead from Weekend Atnannies (Drew Monti) past the quarter and then continually extend his advantage through the 1:24.3 three-quarters. Then Stalbaum turned Lord Willoughby N for home and ran away by five in 1:54 for his seventh win of the season.

Lord Willoughby A ($5.70) is owned by Shark Racing and trained by his driver, Stalbaum.

Driver Jim Morrill Jr. and trainer Maria RIce were once again tops in their craft on Saturday. Morrill won four races during the night while Rice was victorious in three races on the card. Driver Kyle Cummings also had a big night as he got the hat trick during the proceedings.

With no single unique winning ticket purchased in the Jackpot Pick-5 on Saturday night (Oct. 23), there will be a carryover of $11,825 for that bet in race nine when live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Oct. 27). There is also a small but mentionable carryover of $482 in the Jackpot Pick-6 in race four.

Free full past performance programs for the entire card — that includes these races — can also be downloaded at bataviadownsgaming.com under the live racing tab, where they can be found for every live night of racing at Batavia Downs.

Post time for the first race Wednesday is 5 p.m.

View the Batavia Downs results click here!

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs