Photo: Gia’s Surreal with driver John Cummings Jr.
By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs
There were some big performances put forth at Batavia Downs on Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 5) as Gia’s Surreal muscled her way to victory in the top distaff pace and Jim Morrill Jr. won five races on the card to extend his driving lead for the meet.
After coming up short from a tough spot last week, Gia’s Surreal put an exclamation point on her performance in the $9,000 fillies and mares Open I pacing feature at the Downs.
Gia’s Surreal (John Cummings Jr.) settled in fifth off the gate but only until the eighth pole, where Cummings pulled her and flew to the lead by the quarter in :28.1. She didn’t get much of a breather from there as HP Sissy (Denny Bucceri) pulled before the half and was on the attack and pushing the issue.
HP Sissy fully engaged Gia’s Surreal and kept the fractions honest going up the backside, but after the 1:25 third panel on the rim, she tired while Gia’s Surreal accelerated. Cummings commenced bouncing in the bike around the far turn and opened up 2-1/4 lengths by the top of the stretch. From there the race was history as Gia’s Surreal extended her lead to 3-1/2 at the wire where she won in 1:54.4.
It was the fourth score of the year for Gia’s Surreal ($4.50), who is owned by Edward Peron, Lee Winters, Thomas Mariano and Jim Graham, who also trains the winner.
The top trot of the night was the $8,000 Open II event where Noble legend (Billy Davis Jr.) took a new seasonal mark of 1:58.2 after leading unchallenged at every station to score his second win of the year. It was the 35th lifetime win for the 8-year-old son of Kadabra-Lovin It and the purse pushed his total earnings in excess of $300,000; now with $302,519 in the bank for owners Vogel & Wags Nags, Team Rice and Adelphi Bloodstock. Maria Rice trains Noble Legend.
Driver Jim Morrill Jr. turned heads once again on the strength of his five win outing on Wednesday. He was a frequent visitor of the Purple Haze winner’s enclosure as he made his way back there with Lyra (1:55.3, $12.40), Littlebitaclass (1:57.3, $3.80), Mighty Nicky (1:59.2, $7.80), All Music (1:59, $3) and The Bay Front (1:56.3, $2.30). He ended the night with a .535 universal driver rating.
Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Aug. 8) with post time at 6 p.m.
