Five win night for Beckwith

Batavia, NY — Brett Beckwith, who is currently the third winningest driver in North America, substantially added to his victory total on Thursday (Feb. 5) at Batavia Downs after winning five races on the program. Those wins included a sweep of the Batavia Downs Winter Pacing Series finals and a natural hat trick in races seven, eight and nine.

The top final went for $14,000 and Beckwith scored with Timeto Communicate after getting a perfect trip.

Timeto Communicate got away third and watched as Rock Me Always (Drew Monti) gave the cold shoulder to Major Battle (Kyle Cummings), who got parked in :27.4 and :57.1 before turning left onto the second circuit.

As they rolled up the backstretch Major Battle stalled, forcing Dandys Bb Eight (Leon Bailey) three-wide approaching three-quarters. That transition in position provided a gap for Timeto Communicate to vacate the pocket and come directly at Rock Me Always. Rounding the last turn, Rock Me Always, Timeto Communicate and Dandys Bb Eight paced three abreast until the top of the stretch where Timeto Communicate bolted away by 3-¼ lengths and won in 1:57.2.

TIMETO COMUNICATE REPLAY

Timeto Communicate ($6.28) is owned by Crazy Parrot Farm and trained by Shawn McDonough, who had two wins on Thursday.

Then in the $11,000 final, Beckwith steered Mcvera to her fourth consecutive win at Batavia and kept her undefeated in 2025.

Kb’ssweetcaroline (Drew Monti) circled Mcvera off the gate to take the lead, but relented when Mcvera made an early first-over move and captured the front for good as they stopped the quarter clock in :28.1. Mcvera then stepped to the half in :58.1 and three-quarters in 1:27.2 while Kb’ssweetcaroline tracked tight on Beckwith’s helmet. When they reached the top of the stretch, Monti tipped Kb’ssweetcaroline and came hard at the leader. But Mcvera had all the answers and toughed-out the win by three-quarters of a length in 1:56.3.

MCVERA REPLAY

Mcvera ($2.98) is owned by Robert Woodburn and trained by Taylor Fritz.

Beckwith completed his win quintet as the heavily backed favorite with All About Lynx (1:58.3, $3.94), Wild Bill Kelso (1:58.4, $2.56) and Brooklets Sonic (1:59, $4.32).

Also featured on Thursday’s card was the $10,000 A-AA trot, where Starlitcresentroll (Drew Monti) put on quite a show after going gate to wire in a 4-½ length romp timed in a sharp 1:58.1. Owned by Lucky Leaf Stable and trained by Taylor Fritz, Starlitcresentroll returned $4.74.

Sam Smith and Chris Petrelli joined McDonough and Fritz with two training wins on Thursday.

Thursday’s card marked the end of the winter meet at Batavia Downs. Live harness racing will resume at the Genesee County oval on Saturday, July 26 at 6 p.m. when the summer/fall meet commences.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs