Batavia to hold Breast Cancer Fundraiser Friday

Batavia, NY — Batavia Downs Gaming and Hotel is gearing up to host its annual fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester (BCCR) on Friday night (Sept. 10) in the harness racing track’s historic clubhouse.

The fundraiser includes a $30 clubhouse buffet package deal, a silent auction with a wide variety of items up for bid, sponsorship of races and private donations. The clubhouse opens at 4 p.m. and the first race post time Friday is 5 p.m.

“The officers and staff at Batavia Downs are thrilled to be able to partner with the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester for their annual fundraising event,” said Facility Vice-President of Operations Scott Kiedrowski. “The tremendous outpouring of support year after year from our customers, horsemen and women and residents from the surrounding communities is very heartwarming and makes this fundraising effort a true success.”

The silent auction will be held in the clubhouse entryway with bidding opening at 4 p.m. and continuing until the start of the tenth race which will be approximately 8 p.m. High bidders do not need to be present when the silent auction closes.

Many local horsemen and women get greatly involved helping out with this great cause by donating all or some of their Friday night earnings and many have already pledged in advance. Anyone wishing to make a donation should contact Jami Chatt via Facebook (@Jami Rae) or in the paddock Friday night.

“We had so many sponsors this year we had to double up on most races,” said Todd Haight, Director and General Manager of Live Racing at Batavia Downs. “The last time we held this event was 2019 when we raised over $17,000. I think we’ll take a run at that total this year.”

The Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester is the only full-scope, independently-operated organization focused on serving breast and gynecologic cancer survivors in the Central and Western New York regions and each year they benefit from over 100 fundraising events like this. They are a community-based, grassroots organization dedicated to eradicating breast cancer through research and advocacy along with offering supportive and educational programs that are available to breast and gynecologic cancers survivors. And all programs and services are free of charge.

A very busy Labor Day

Those who attended the races on Labor Day at Batavia Downs had to be impressed by the size of the crowd as it was certainly the largest attendance at the track since the prestigious New York SIre Stakes Night of Champions was held in 2019.

“Traditionally Labor Day is our biggest day of the season. We’ve had some big Labor Days in the past but no doubt this one was up there with others from 20 years ago. Fueled by $1 Sahlen’s hot dogs, sodas and drafts, on-track betting was double per race than it normally is. You could simply look at the tote board and see the pools were bigger than usual,” said Haight.

“Our loyal patrons certainly came out to play the races and enjoy our dollar specials. We went through ,2000 hot dogs (in four hours) and hundreds of sodas and drafts. Our food and beverage department did an incredible job handling the lines.”

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs