Batavia Downs leading driver Kevin Cummings continued his torrid pace on Sunday (Aug. 28) after his Grand Slam performance at the track on Saturday night. Cummings drove six more winners of the 12 races held, giving him a total of 11 wins in the last 22 races in which he drove. 

Cummings biggest win of the day came with Jumpinthejailhouse, who won the co-featured $14,000 Open II Trot in fairly easy fashion. 

Jumpinthejailhouse went right to the front and reached the quarter in :28.4 as All About Thechase and Batting Stats followed closely behind. With positions unchanged from that point, Jumpinthejailhouse then went :59.2 to the half and 1:28.3 to three-quarters and extended his lead to 2-1/2 lengths coming off the last turn. The race was over at the point as Cummings had Jumpinthejailhouse wrapped up by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:57.4, which tied his season-best clocking. 

Jumpinthejailhouse is owned by Mike Torcello and was trainer Sammy Smith’s second win of the afternoon. He paid $4.20 to win.

Cummings completed his six pack with wins behind Faithful Desire (winning mile in 1:55.2, $2.90 to win), Anurka (1:57, $6.10), Bacardi (1:57, $3.90), Parkhill Horton (1:58, $6.30) and Way To Go Fabio (1:55.3, $6.30). 

So far this meet, Kevin Cummings has 45 wins in only 156 starts and sits ahead of Jim Morrill Jr., with 39 wins, in the top spot for dash supremacy.   

The one race Cummings didn’t win was the $15,000 Open I Handicap Trot, where Saratoga regular Oh So Pine shipped in off a disappointing start at Plainridge Park and got back on track in a gate to wire win. 

Larry Stalbaum flew off the wings with Oh So Pine and opened up a three-length lead at the :29.2 quarter. With Lunar Credit snug in the pocket, Oh So Pine continued to set a steady tempo to the half in :59.2 and three-quarters in 1:28.3. At the top of the stretch, Lunar Credit and Sanchez Rocks were both within a length of the leader as they were trotting to the wire, but Oh So Pine was the toughest of them all and won by a half length in 1:57.4. 

The Stalbaum-owned and -trained Oh So Pine ($6.20) got his third win of the year and raised his cash total to $64,199 in 2022. He paid $6.20 to win.

Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Aug. 31) at 6:00 p.m. (EDT) and there will be a carryover of $1,502 in the Jackpot Super Hi-5 in Race 12.

(Batavia Downs)