Mr. Euroman had a two-month vacation this summer before the start of the Batavia Downs meet and since returning to action in late August, has won four out of his eight starts in Genesee County. The most recent win came on Saturday night (Oct. 12) in the $12,500 Open Handicap pace at the Downs.
Leaving from post one, Mr. Euroman (Billy Davis Jr.) watched as Sir Pugsley (Drew Monti) fired off the gate and took command of the race heading around the first turn. With the field in single file, Sir Pugsley went down to the half in :57 before stepping up the pace to the three-quarters with a :27.3 split. Mr. Euroman was the beneficiary of cover to this point of the race and continued to trip-out to the top of the stretch. Davis pulled the pocket at the head of the lane with Mr. Euroman and out-dueled Sir Pugsley to the wire to win by one-half length in 1:53.2.
It was the seventh win of the year for Mr. Euroman ($16.00) who is owned by Vogel and Wags Nags, Jack Rice and Adelphi Bloodstock and is trained by Maria Rice.
There were a pair of $11,000 Open II races on the card that both provided some stellar performances.
(Photo above: Down On My Luck with driver Drew Monti in the lead.)
The first split saw Down On My Luck (Drew Monti) get away third before pulling first-over at the three-eighths, clear the leading Barry Hanover (Dave McNeight III) by the three-quarters and then pull away to an easy 2-¼ length win in 1:53.3. Down On My Luck ($3.10) is having a career year for owner Robert Woodburn, now with eight wins and $47,867 in earnings. Patrick Shepherd trains the winner.
(Above photo: What’s Goin On with John Cummings Jr. out in front.)
In the second division, What’s Goin On (John Cummings Jr.) sat second behind the pace-setting Rise Up Now (Shawn McDonough) from the start until the top of the stretch where he found room on the pylons and shot through like a rocket to out-pace four other fast finishers and win by one-half length in 1:54.4. What’s Going On ($8.70) now also has eight wins this year and $65,821 earned for owners Marissa and Joe Russo. David Russo does the conditioning.
Drew Monti scored a driving triple to lead all drivers on Saturday while John Cumming Jr. and Renaldo Morales III scored two wins apiece. Trainer Patrick Shepherd also sent three horses to the Purple Haze Winner’s Circle while James Clouser Jr. and Joe Skowyra each watched two of their stable win during the night
Racing resumes at Batavia Downs with the final matinee card of the year on Monday (Oct. 14) with the annual Columbus Day special. Post time for the first race is 1:15 p.m.
