Batavia Downs has announced that it will be offering a guaranteed pool for its early Pick-5 wager on Wednesday (Aug. 21).
When live racing resumes at Batavia on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m., the track will feature a $10,000 guaranteed pool on its early Pick-5 wager, which runs from Race 1 to Race 5.
The pool guarantee is part of the United States Trotting Association’s Strategic Wagering program. Free program pages are available for those races on the USTA website.
The first race of the night, and of the Pick-5, is the $12,500 Fillies and Mare Open I Handicap Pace, and this week it’s loaded with talent.
Paul Zabielski’s Spreester (to be driven by Drew Monti) is two for two at Batavia since shipping in from Saratoga Raceway (she won the Open II and Open I in successive outings). In her win last week, Spreester drew off by more than 11 lengths in the stretch and made a shambles of the competition in a season’s best 1:53.2 effort.
However, this week Chris Oakes’ Sidewalk Dancer (Hunter Oakes) will ship in from The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono fresh off of her top performance of the year: a 1:51, three and a quarter-length win in an upper-level conditioned event.
The eight-year-old Spreester has recorded 51 lifetime wins, whereas the four-year-old Sidewalk Dancer is seasoned for her age, having faced the toughest three-year-old fillies on the Grand Circuit all last year. These two will square off in a heavyweight battle making the first leg of the $10,000 guaranteed Pick-5 a wide-open affair.
(With files from Batavia Downs)