The wind and rain blew into Genesee County prior to post time on Wednesday (October 4), but the sun did come out for the first race. That combination may have helped Miss Irish Rose A bloom for a second straight week, as she easily won the $9,500 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace at Batavia Downs in impressive style.
Larry Stalbaum fired Miss Irish Rose A hard off the gate and crossed over to the pylons before anyone knew what happened. They may as well have put the finish line there because the race was over at that point. Leading the rest of the way with a clear advantage, Miss Irish Rose A cut the corners in :28, :57.1 and 1:25.4 where she opened up a six-length advantage. Stalbaum shut her down at the top of the lane, but Miss Irish Rose A still paced home in :28.2 to win by over a length in 1:54.1.
It was the second consecutive win for Miss Irish Rose A ($3.20), her second win in North America and her second successive lifetime mark. Larry Stalbaum owns the five-year-old McArdle progeny who is trained by Kim Asher.
In the $8,000 Fillies and Mares Open II co-feature, the Asher-Stalbaum playbook was still opened to the same page as Exotic Beach took a quick lead and toured the facility in front from there, winning by a length in 1:56 over an even muddier track. Exotic Beach ($5.70) scored her fifth win of the year for the Man from Matamoras, who owns this one as well.
It was quite a big night for the Larry Stalbaum-Kim Asher combination, as they teamed up for seven wins on the card. Besides Miss Irish Rose A and Exotic Beach, they also scored with Kaitlyn Rae (1:56.4, $6.70), Rockin Kasbah (1:57, $6.70), Quicksilvercandy A (1:56.4, $7.20), Cartoonist (1:56, $5.80), and Saint William A (1:57.4, $2.50).
The eighth win by Stalbaum was with Hitontheflipside (2:01, $19.00), who is trained by Jim Graham.
Stalbaum had 10 drives on the card with eight wins and one third, giving him an unbelievable .833 UDR for the evening.
The wielding of wins on Wednesday by Stalbaum vaulted him into second place among drivers for dash wins for the meet. Currently Drew Monti is on top with 68 wins, Stalbaum is now is second with 60, and Ray Fisher, Jr. has dropped into third.
As far as Asher is concerned, she is now firmly in the lead for wins by a trainer this session with 40. That is seven more than JD Perrin, who currently sits in second place as a result of the stellar night by the Asher entourage.
Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Friday (October 6) with post time at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.
(Batavia Downs)