Open delight for Cummings, Morrill

Batavia, NY — Two $12,800 Open class events topped the bill at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Sept. 20) evening and both winners claimed victory with ease.

First in the Open Handicap trot, there was no competition for El Toro Loco, who had complete control the entire mile en route to his win.

Kevin Cummings sent El Toro Loco to the front from post five and opened up an immediate two length gap as he passed the quarter in :28.3. With I Got The Looks (Dan Yetman) drafting in the pocket, El Toro Loco backed off the half to :58.3 before getting to three-quarters in 1:27.3 with only a mild bid from Biscoe (Jim McNeight Jr.), who never got closer than third and three-lengths in arrears. El Toro Loco hit the top of the stretch in front by three and simply cruised to the line in 1:56.2.

It was the eighth win of the year for El Toro Loco ($5.40) who is owned by Mike Torcello and trained by Sam Smith.

EL TORO LOCO REPLAY

Then in the Open Handicap pace, Mirragon A came first-over at the half to end up first at the wire.

Jim Morrill Jr. got away fifth with Mirragon A as Lanjo Lee (Kyle Cummings) and Twist Knot (Joe Chindano Jr.) traded leads to the quarter. Twist Knot had the lead at the point and escorted the group to the half in :56.4. That’s where Morrill had tipped Mirragon A and was motoring up the rim towards the leader as they rounded turn three. Mirragon A was fully engaged with Twist Knot at five-eighths and moved by him into the lead, passing three-quarters in 1:24.1. Mirragon A then swelled up on the lead around the last turn and in front by 2-½ lengths as he entered the stretch. From there he was line-driven to paydirt, clocked in 1:52.4.

MIRRAGON A REPLAY

Mirragon A ($7.88) is owned by his trainer, Mike Deters, in partnership with Joel Warner and John Manning.

Kevin Cummings, Drew Monti and Jim Morrill Jr. all had three wins at the lines on Saturday while trainer Sam Smith sent two of his students to the winner’s enclosure.

Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Sept. 24) with post time at 6:00 p.m. and there will be a guaranteed pool of $7,500 in the Pick-5 wager in the first race. That wager has a $2,566 carryover and the $7,500 guarantee is part of the United States Trotting Association’s Strategic Wagering Program. Full past performance program pages for the Pick-5 races will be available for free at ustrotting.com under the Handicapping tab. There is also a carryover of $2,016 in the Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta in the 13th race.

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