Son of Ivanhoe Blue Chip ends winning drought

Batavia, NY — Great Unknown (Ivanhoe Blue Chip) has lived up to his name recently concerning harness racing winner’s circle visits, as he hasn’t been to one since May 8 at Harrington Raceway. But his 12 start drought ended on Friday (Oct. 25) night at Batavia Downs when he was a willing participant and jogged home first in the $9,500 trotting feature.

John Cummings Jr. left with Great Unknown and then strung out Crazy Ritz (Jim McNeight Jr.) before releasing him to the front at the quarter in :28.1. Now with the pocket trip, Great Unknown followed Crazy Ritz to the half in :58.3 and three-quarters in 1:28.1.

At that point, Paya Tuesday (Joe Chindano Jr.) was trotting alongside Great Unknown third heading into the last turn, and Famous Dan (Kyle Cummings) had joined the group three-deep around him, leaving Great Unknown locked in the box halfway through the bend. But Paya Tuesday began to fade, leaving room for Great Unknown to get out between Crazy Ritz and Famous Dan.

At the top of the stretch, Great Unknown was trotting up a storm with his tail flagging with every stride. He bolted to the lead by two lengths and won impressively in 1:57.4.

GREAT UNKNOWN REPLAY

Great Unknown ($5.00) is owned by Marissa Russo and trained by Dave Russo, who had two winners on the card.

Joe Chindano Jr. scored a grand slam at the lines on Friday, winning with Machaholic (1:55, $6.20), SS Tys Aflyin (1:59, $17.80), Lootable (1:54, $3.10) and Chumlee A (1:56.4, $21.60).

Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Oct. 26) with post time at 6:00 p.m. and there will be a $1,659 carryover in the Pick-5 in the first race and a $963 carryover in the Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta in the 14th race.

Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at the Downs’ website under the “Live Racing” tab and all the racing action can be viewed as it happens for free at the Batavia Downs Live Facebook page.

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

by Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs