Lutetium (Kevin Cummings)
By Tim Bojarski, Batavia Downs Media Relations
It’s an old story, but one that’s frequently told in western New York. Lutetium wins another $9,500 Open trot feature race at Batavia Downs on Friday night (Nov. 20).
Leaving from the outside (post six) in an abbreviated field, Lutetium (Kevin Cummings) shot right to the front and took a lead he would never relinquish. With a loose, two-length advantage for most of the race, Lutetium cut quarters of :28.2, :58.3 and 1:28.2. As he opened up a wider margin past that last station, Cummings guided Lutetium to the wire first in 1:58.2 as the rest of the field viewed his efforts while arguing for minor spoils.
It was the tenth win of the season for Lutetium ($3.20) and sixth victory at Batavia Downs this meet. The winner’s share of the purse inflated his 2015 earnings to $80,371 for owner Colleen Girdlestone. Mark Laidlaw trains the 8-year-old gelded son of Credit Winner.
The Downs' leading driver, Kevin Cummings, registered a quintet of victories Friday night, extending his already insurmountable lead in the dash win category for the meet. He finished first with Lutetium ($3.20), Creating A Dream ($3.10), Leave Your Mark ($8.90), Livefreeordiehard ($8.10) and Rebel Teen ($4.80). Shawn McDonough and Ray Fisher Jr. also had driving doubles.
On the training side, John Mungillo sent three horses to the winner’s circle and Mihalo Zdjelar Jr. did the same with two.
