Grand slams for Monti and McDonough

Batavia, NY —  Driver Drew Monti and trainer Shawn McDonough both had stellar harness racing performances at Batavia Downs on Friday (Sept. 12) night as they each won four races on the card. While in the featured $11,000 Mid-level conditioned trot, Crazy Ritz went the best mile of his season as he dominated a full field to score his third victory of the year at The Downs.

Jim McNeight Jr. sent Crazy Ritz forward and took the lead at the :28 quarter. From there he stepped to the half in :58.1 before Starlitcresentroll (Dave McNeight III) blitzed from the outside and Blantons Blue (Kevin Cummings) continued to pursue from the pocket. This two-pronged attack stayed in place until the last turn where Crazy Ritz started to separate from the field and continued to do so as they spun into the stretch. There, Crazy Ritz bolted home on top by 3-¼ lengths in 1:56.3, which was a new seasonal mark for the winner.

CRAZY RITZ REPLAY

Crazy Ritz ($3.92) is owned by James Palladino and trained by Jeffrey Martin.

There were also a pair of $9,700 conditioned trots programmed on Friday.

In the first, Technical Wow (Jim Morrill Jr.) sat second behind Dwight Hanover (Joe Chindano Jr.) through quarters of :28.4, :59.2 and 1:29, where All About Thechase (Jim McNeight Jr.) joined the action on the outside. Positions remained unchanged around the last turn but in the stretch, Technical Wow dipped into the passing lane, passed Dwight Hanover and All About Thechase, and then held off a fast-closing Bird In Hand (Kyle Swift) to win by one-half length in 1:59.

Technical Wow ($3.70) is owned by Ben Ortiz and trained by Shawn McDonough.

McDonough’s other three winners were Mingo Joel (1:56.4, $12.72), Said N Done AS (2:00.1, $4.02) and Millie’s Spirit (1:57.4, $4.28).

Then in the second, Northernchancellor (Drew Monti) left nothing to chance and he led from start to finish. After taking the lead off the gate, Northernchancellor stopped the clock at :29.3, 1:00.3 and 1:30 flat, before rounding the final bend and dashing to the wire on top by 2-¾ in 1:59.1.

Northernchancellor ($7.20) is owned by Carl Monti and Jim Caradori and trained by Darrin Monti.

Monti closed out his four-bagger driving the aforementioned Mingo Joel and Said N Done AS, along with Just Zip It (1:56.2, $11.62).

Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Sept. 13) with post time at 6:00 p.m.

Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at The Downs’ website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab. Then you can watch all the races live as they happen for free on the Batavia Downs YouTube page.

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

by Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs