One week removed from beating the best female pacers on the grounds, Won Surreal Deal doubled down and did it again by winning her second straight $15,000 Open I Distaff Handicap pacing feature at Batavia Downs on Wednesday night (Oct. 18).
After coming from off the pace last week, Won Surreal Deal (Kyle Cummings) did a 180 and went right to the front and led the single-file field thorugh quarters of :28.1, :56.4 and 1:25 without any challenge from behind. As they went into the last turn, the pocket-sitting Miley Rose (Dave McNeight III) was the only one with a shot, but as they turned for home, Won Surreal Deal just paced away from her and won handily by 1-3/4 lengths in a swift 1:54.1.
The win was the 15th lifetime victory for Won Surreal Deal ($7.30), who is owned by the Parsimonious Racing Stable and trained by Jeff Sorenson.
In the $11,500 mid-level conditioned pacing night cap, Escape The House (Jim McNeight Jr.) followed P L Notorious (Kevin Cummings) from the start of the race until the top of the stretch, where McNeight tipped Escape The House into the passing lane and out-brushed So Amazing (John Cummings Jr.) and Its Mesmerize N (Kyle Swift) to win by a neck in 1:56, scoring a major upset at 22-1.
The win was the third in the last four starts for Escape The House ($46), who is owned and trained by Taylor Fritz.
Escape The House also spearheaded the winning Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta combination of 9-8-6-1-2 that paid $8,677.50 for a 20-cent wager.
Kevin Cummings led all drivers on Wednesday with four wins while trainer Sam Smith topped his conditioning cohorts with a triple during the night.
Live harness racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m.
(With files from Batavia Downs)