A hot pace on the front end was the perfect set up for the closer What The Sheik ($13) in the $8,500 Open Pace at Batavia Downs Saturday night (Oct. 26).
After watching the heavily favoured OK Braveheart (Shawn McDonough) put up some hot fractions of :27.3, :57.3 and 1:26.2 on the brisk, windy evening, What The Sheik (Ray Fisher Jr.) used a perfectly timed three-wide brush down the backstretch and never looked back. The six-year-old horse kicked home in a :28.3 final panel to put away the field and register the four and a half length win over Unicorn Hanover (Greg Merton) in 1:55.2. Allamerican Improv (David McNeight III) and Racsan Steve (Jack Flanigen) finished in a dead-heat for show.
Owned by Mike Torcello and trained by Gerry Sarama, What The Sheik (Western Terror-Radiant Heiress) posted his eighth win of the season and upped his 2013 earnings to $58,997 and lifetime bankroll to $352,568.
Ray Fisher Jr. and Ron Beback Jr. both had big Saturday nights, guiding home four winners apiece.
Harness racing resumes on Wednesday night with a 12-race program set to get underway at 6:30 p.m. North America's leading driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. returns once again and is scheduled to race in all 12 events, including the featured $8,500 Fillies and Mares Open Pace. He'll be aboard last week's winner, Umygeorgia Hanover, who will be seeking her 14th win of the campaign.
Wrenn Jr. had four winners last week at Batavia Downs and is currently atop the driver's standings with 579 victories on the season.
The entire card will be telecast on Time-Warner Cable, Channel 98 in Rochester and the surrounding area with track announcer Joe Zambito and Ashley Holliday as the co-hosts.
(With files from Batavia Downs)