Black Is Back with driver Dave McNeight III.
By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs
Taking full advantage of the pylon position start, Black Is Back (Dave McNeight III) grabbed the lead by the quarter and took the field to the half in :57.3. By that time Stratosphere (Drew Monti) was rolling up the rim and moving towards the front. Black Is Back and Stratosphere battled up the backside, around the far turn and into the lane where Black Is Back put away the challenge and then held off a late charge by Mr. Euroman (BIlly Davis Jr.) to win by ¼ length in 1:54.3.
It was the fourth win of the Batavia meet and sixth win overall this year for Black Is Back ($3.30) who is owned by Curtis Edhholm and Mihajlo Zdjelar Sr. Mihajlo Zdjelar Jr. trains the winner.
In the $7,500 Open II pace, Manciever (Drew Monti) pulled first-over at the 3/8th’s and took the lead from Santana Beach (Billy Davis Jr.) by the half and then kicked away to a 4-¾ length win in 1:54.1. Owned by Jeffrey Savidge and trained by Jennifer Giuliani, Manciever ($5) took a new seasonal mark in his third win of the year.
Drew Monti had the hot hand in the sulky on Saturday winning five races on the card. He won with the aforementioned Manciever, Machlicious (1:54, $3.60), The Lunch Pail (1:55.2, $2.10), Thedoginthefight (1:57.4, $3.70) and Gallant Major (1:57.3, $7.20).
Trainer Don Rothfuss led all conditioners with two wins on the night.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Oct. 14) and it was announced that there will be a guaranteed $3,000 pool in the Pick-5 wager that day.
It will be part of the USTA Strategic Wagering Program and as such, there will be free program pages for the first five races on Wednesday available on the Batavia Downs website and the USTA website starting on Monday.
Post time for the first race will be 5 p.m.
