International flair displayed at Batavia

Batavia, NY —  A top-class race for each harness racing gait was contested at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Aug. 30) night and a pair of foreign-bred horses claimed the spoils from those two events.

In the $12,800 Open Handicap trot, the Canadian-bred Dealin With Dewey (Wheelin N Dealin) was used both early and late, but still got the job done.

Brett Macdonald left with Dealin With Dewey and was parked three-deep through the first eighth before grabbing up and tucking in third, as Duke Lavictoire (Jim Morrill Jr.) settled on the lead at the quarter in a snappy :27.4. Positions remained unchanged to the half where Dealin With Dewey made his second move and started an overland trek heading around turn three.

Dealin With Dewey continued to gain ground on the backstretch and drew even with Duke Lavictoire as they passed three-quarters in 1:27. The two trotters matched strides all around the last turn and into the stretch where Dealin With Dewey started to pull away from the Duke, and then held off a late challenge from the fast-closing Makes Me Charlie (Kyle Cummings) to win by a quarter length in 1:56.3.

DEALIN WITH DEWEY REPLAY

It was the eighth win of the year for the heavily backed Dealin With Dewey ($2.70) who is owned and trained by Sara Baillargeon.

Then in the $12,800 Open Handicap pace, the Australian-bred Lip Reader A left no doubt as he scored a gate to wire victory while matching his fastest time of the meet.

Drew Monti sent Lip Reader A to the front from his pylon position start and they stepped off solid fractions of :27.4, :58.3 and 1:26.1 while Davey Day Trader (Dave McNeight III) tracked closely from second the entire time, and a mild outer-flow bid by Lanjo Lee (Kyle Cummings) failed as they made their way around the bend.

As the race entered the final eighth of a mile, Monti sat chilly and let Lip Reader A close the deal as he was pacing under a full head of steam and rolled home easily to win by 1-½ lengths in 1:54.

LIP READER A REPLAY

It was the sixth win of the year for Lip Reader A ($3.20) who is owned by Vogel and Wags Nags and Team Rice Racing and trained by Maria Rice.

Lip Reader A was only one of four victories for Monti on Saturday, as he led all drivers for wins on the program. He also scored with Beantown Boy (1:56.3, $9.00), King James Express (1:54.1, $8.60) and Out On Bail (1:55.3, $5.80).

Also having a good night in the bike was Kyle Swift, who had a hat trick. On the training side, 12 different conditioners each earned one win apiece.

Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Labor Day Monday (Sept. 1) with post time at 1:15 p.m.

Next week on Saturday (Sept. 6), Batavia Downs will host the New York Sire Stakes Night of Champions finals night with purses valued at $2.4 million.

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.

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

by Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs