It was 'Ladies Night' at Batavia Downs Friday evening as the four-year-old mare Mystical Escapade beat the boys in the $8,500 Open Trot in 1:58.3 over a fast track.
In her last appearance on October 11, Mystical Escapade rolled to a 2-1/4 length win in the Open Trot. After a week off, she returned ready and rolled to a 1-1/2 length victory for driver Greg Merton. She easily held off Absolutely Certain and Headingforaruckus. The heavily-favoured BZ Glide made a rare break in stride at the start and lost all hope.
Lutetium had set the tempo and posted fractions of :28.2, :57.3 and 1:27.4 but threw in the towel at the three-quarter pole. Mystical Escapade was poised on the outside and trotted strongly in the stretch to notch her second consecutive win in the Open Trot.
It was the seventh win of the season for Mystical Escapade ($8.10) who is owned by the Empowered Racing Stable and trained by Carl Smith. The victory sent her 2013 winnings to $82,721 and $143,321 lifetime.
A 13-race program is set for Saturday night with the first post scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The $8,500 Open Pace is the featured event and will go off as the sixth race. OK Braveheart is the 5-2 morning line choice and will start from the three-hole with Batavia Downs' leading driver Shawn McDonough in the bike.
(Batavia Downs)