Lunar Credit with driver Jim McNeight Jr., winning the featured $8,500 Open I trot at Batavia Downs Wednesday.
By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs
Heavy rain, strong winds and sloppy goings were not the best conditions for racing on Wednesday night (Sept. 30), but they were no match for the storm Billy Davis Jr. kicked up on the track while winning six of the 13 races at Batavia Downs.
Davis came out of the gate strong, winning both ends of the double with Surfers Paradise (1:57.3, $3.10) and The Land Shark (2:01.2, $14.80) and followed that up with victories with Wonderful World (1:56.1, $5.90), Pembroke Bada Bing (2:02, $22.20), Rockn Legend (2:00.3, $7.40) and Electric Chapel N (2:00.2, $4.30).
Davis, who is the defending dash driving champion at the Downs, started Wednesday in second place and 10 wins behind the current leader Jim Morrill Jr. But with Morrill drawing a blank during the card, Davis is now only four wins away from moving into a first place tie.
Davis is also currently the tenth leading percentage driver in North America with a .342 Universal Driver Rating. Morrill is fifth in that category with a .377.
The one race Davis did not win was the featured $8,500 Open I trot. That race went to Lunar Credit and Jim McNeight Jr. who lurked second behind the front running Il Mago (Jim Morrill Jr.) all the way to the top of the stretch where the one-path opened up. Lunar Credit shot the gap to catch the leader and fend off the fast closing Daylon Phantom (Drew Monti) and Before I Die (Dave McNeight III) to win by 1/2 length in 1:58.4.
Lunar Credit ($10.40) scored his fourth win for his owner/driver McNeight Jr. The winner is trained by Jim McNeight.
Jim McNeight Jr. also had a big night in the bike winning two more races to score the hat trick.
Trainers Jim McNeight, Andy Torre, Don Niles and Sabrina Shaw all registered two wins on Wednesday.
Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Oct. 3) with post time at 6 p.m.
