An outside starting position and breaking horses that scatter the field are not a good recipe for a track record.
But those were two major obstacles Mystical Escapade overcame in establishing a new track record for aged trotting mares at Batavia Downs Friday night (Oct. 11) in winning the $8,500 Open Trot in 1:56.3 over the fast track. It beat the old mark of 1:57 set by Cowgirl Hall earlier this season.
The new mark was the seventh track record either tied or broken at Batavia Downs in 2013.
The trip was definitely an adventure for Mystical Escapade and Batavia Downs' leading driver Shawn McDonough. After starting from the seven-hole in the eight-horse field, Mystical Escapade found herself in sixth place, 14 lengths from the lead at the quarter-mile pole when she had to avoid the breaking trotters Glorious Winner and Serious George.
But it was full-steam ahead from there for the lone mare in the field.
Still eight lengths behind the pace-setting Lutetium at the half, Mystical Escapade ($13.80) went first over, used a monster move down the backstretch and quickly found herself with a two-length lead at the top of the stretch. She coasted through the lane and notched the two and a quarter length win over runner-up Lutetium (Ron Beback Jr.) while the hard-charging BZ Glide (Mike Caprio) finished third.
Besides breaking the track record, the 1:56.3 clocking was also a lifetime mark for the four-year-old Mystical Escapade (Valley Victor-Armbro Orbital). Her previous best was a 1:56.4 at Saratoga earlier this season.
Mystical Escapade now has six victories in 25 starts in 2013, pushing her bankroll to $78,471 for 2013 and $139,077 lifetime. She is owned by the Empowered Racing Stable and trained by Carl Smith.
In addition to taking the Friday night feature, leading reinsman McDonough got home longshots Pacific Fury ($68.50), Spacehill ($49.80), Majestic Duke ($18.40) and Charmschooldropout ($8.60) while provisional driver Drew Monti scored a double.
Racing action returns on Saturday night at Batavia Downs with a 13-race program on tap. The feature will be the seventh race when a field of seven head to the post in the the $8,500 Open Pace. Fireyourguns, fresh off a third-place finish in last week's $50,000 Robert J. Kane Memorial Pace, was assigned the seven post, but is still tabbed the 5-2 morning line favourite with Mike Caprio in the bike. First post is 6:30 p.m.
There will also be the Guaranteed $3,000 Pick 4, which starts in the third race. It's part of the United States Trotting Association's Strategic Wagering program and program pages for the sequence are available free at the USTA website.
(With files from Batavia Downs)