By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs
When live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 21) at 5 p.m., the track will feature a $10,000 guaranteed pool on the early Pick-5 wager that runs from race one to race five.
It is part of the United States Trotting Association’s (USTA) Strategic Wagering program and as such, free program pages are available for those races on the USTA website, or by clicking this for a direct download: http://bit.ly/Bat82119
The first race of the night, and of the Pick-5, is the $12,500 fillies and mare Open I Handicap pace and this week it’s loaded with talent.
Paul Zabielski’s Spreester (Drew Monti) is two for two at Batavia since shipping in from Saratoga Raceway, winning the Open II and Open I in successive outings. In her win last week, Spreester drew off by 11-3/4 lengths in the stretch and made a shambles of the competition in a season’s best 1:53.2 effort.
However this week Chris Oakes’ Sidewalk Dancer (Hunter Oakes) ships in from The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono fresh off of her top performance of the year; a 1:51, 3-1/4 length win in an upper-level conditioned event over the storied 5/8th's oval in Wilkes-Barre.
The 8-year-old Spreester has 51 lifetime wins whereas the 4-year-old Sidewalk Dancer is seasoned for her age, having faced the toughest 3-year-old fillies on the Grand Circuit all last year. These two will square-off in a heavyweight battle making the first leg of the $10,000 guaranteed Pick-5 a wide open affair.
