On a night when Drew Monti was honoured as the top driver of the 2018 Batavia Downs meet, he put on a clinic and showed why he toted home the hardware again as he won seven races on Saturday, Dec. 15 program.
Trainer JD Perrin, who Monti regularly drives for and was also honoured as the top conditioner of the season, sent out six winners of his own.
The pair put the exclamation point on their stellar season as they sent Cheyenne Louie to victory in the $20,000 Dash for the Holiday Cash late closer final, which was the feature race of the night.
Cheyenne Louie left strong and grabbed the lead past the first eighth. Cruising through fractions of :28.2, :58.2 and 1:27.4, Monti had the field stacked up behind as he sat chilly in the bike. At the top of the stretch several horses fanned wide to try and close the gap but Cheyenne Louie already held a four-length advantage before stopping the clock in 1:57.
It was the seventh win of the year for Cheyenne Louie whose share of the purse pushed him to $26,983 earned for 2018. Cheryle Perrin owns the $3.20 winner.
Then the same driver/trainer pair hooked up to win the $11,000 overnight-featured Open Handicap Pace with Lucky McTrucky.
Getting away fifth in the short field of five, Lucky McTrucky tracked the early pace before pulling past the half. Tipping three deep at three-quarters and clearing the front at the top of the lane, he kicked to a three-length victory in 1:55.2.
It was the 56th career win and 14th tally of the year for Lucky McTrucky who is now only $1,095 shy of $100,000 in earnings for 2018. Tessa Roland owns the nine-year-old McCardle gelding who paid $5.70 to win.
Other winners Monti steered were with Cobble Beach (1:57.2, $4.70), Rock To Glory (1:56.4, $3.10), RM Hawk (1:55.3, $4.10), Heaven Rocks (1:56.3, $3.70) and OK Galahad (1:57, $4.10).
Perrin's six training wins consisted of five that Monti drove (Cheyenne Louie, Lucky McTrucky, Rock To Glory, RM Hawk and Heaven Rocks) along with Foreign Officer (1:56.4, $7.70), who was driven by Ray Fisher Jr.
After the 11th race the duo was named top driver and trainer of the Batavia Downs meet by the Upstate New York Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association.
This is the second driving title for Drew Monti at Batavia Downs and third overall of his career. The 24-year-old Monti put together another stellar year in the bike; to date starting 572 times, winning 122 races, finishing second 90 times and third 72 times. Those starts earned his connections $724,805 in purses.
JD Perrin won the training title at the Downs three straight years from 2014-2016 making this his fourth title at the track. With 208 starts, Perrin trainees have won 61 times with 31 seconds and 19 thirds. His stable banked $333,648 for the session.
Batavia Downs will resume live racing in 2019 on Wednesday, July 24 and is the host track of the New York Sires Stakes Night Of Champions which will be held on Saturday, Sept. 14.
(With files from Batavia Downs)