The Last Martini, Bartlett star in NYSS

Batavia, NY — A large and enthusiastic crowd was on hand to welcome the New York Sire Stakes back to Batavia Downs on Saturday (July 26) night and they watched as eight 3-year-old pacing fillies competed in a single harness racing division for the healthy $121,800 purse during the track’s opening night.

Big performances were put in by the heavy post time favorite of that NYSS event, The Last Martini (Huntsville-Martinique), and her driver Jason Bartlett, who also won two $20,000 divisions of the Excelsior Series and two overnights, for a total of five wins that included a natural grand slam.

Bartlett slow-rolled The Last Martini to the front and crossed-over in front of Send It Down Slim (Mark Macdonald) as they passed the :27.1 quarter. Once on top, The Last Martini was in total control and was never challenged for the duration. After passing the half in :57 and three-quarters in 1:25.1, The Last Martini took her 1-¾ length lead around the last turn and into the stretch where she paced home a wrapped-up winner in a sharp 1:53.2, which was her fastest win time ever over a half-mile track.

The eighth lifetime win for The Last Martini ($2.30) pushed her career bankroll to $705,359 for owner Glenview Livestock LTD. Jared Bako is the winning trainer.

THE LAST MARTINI REPLAY

The two $20,000 Excelsior races Bartlett won were with Chanceoflightning (Courtly Choice-Admiral Chance, 1:55.1 – $2.30) for owners VIP Internet Stable, Taddeo Sienicki Stables and Stratton Stable and trainer Cory Stratton and Fashion Terror (Huntsville-High Fashion Model, 1:55 – $2.20) for owner All Star Racing and trainer Mark Ford.

Bartlett rounded out his five-bagger with overnight wins with Stop Action (1:55, $4.70) and Thorn Toad (1:56, $11.40).

Bartlett finished second in his sixth start of the night and ended up with a sparkling .926 UDR for his efforts.

The third $20,000 Excelsior race was won by Bronx Mixer (Huntsville-Apricot Sour, 1:54.3 – $3.20) who is trained and owned by Ray Schnittker, in partnership with Ted Gewertz.

The local $13,500 Open pacing feature went to the Saratoga shipper, Natameri (Kevin Cummings), who went gate to wire in a 4-¾ length romp timed in 1:53.1, which was the fastest mile of the night and also of the season so far. Natameri ($7.00) is owned by Purple Haze Stable and trained by Jessica Okusko.

There was a $4,251 carryover in the Jackpot Hi-5 wager in the 15th race that was guaranteed at $7,500 and had a must-pay designation. As a result, there was $15,473 in new money for a total pool of $19,724 and the combination of 1-4-2-3-7 returned $458 for a 20-cent wager.

Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (July 30) with post time at 6 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 and all the racing action can be viewed as it happens for free at the Batavia Downs Live Stream on YouTube.

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

by Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs