There were some big performances put forth at Batavia Downs on Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 5), as Gias 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, Gias Surreal put an exclamation point on her performance in the $9,000 fillies and mares Open I pacing feature.

Gias 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.

HP Sissy fully engaged Gias Surreal and kept the fractions honest going up the backside, but after the 1:25 third panel on the rim, she tired while Gias 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 Gias Surreal extended her lead to 3-1/2 at the finish line, where she won in 1:54.4.

It was the fourth score of the year for Gias 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 eight-year-old son of Kadabra and Lovin It, and the purse pushed his total earnings to $302,519 for owners Vogel & Wags Nags, Team Rice and Adelphi Bloodstock. Maria Rice trains Noble Legend.

Morrill 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, $3.00) 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.

(Batavia Downs)