Batavia Downs featured two Open Pace events for fillies and mares on Wednesday night (Oct. 5) and both top distaff classes were won by New Zealand-bred mares who showed their mettle in victory.
The $15,000 Open I Handicap went to Pocono Downs shipper The Stunning Nun N, who made her Batavia debut memorable.
The Stunning Nun N (Jim Morrill Jr.) got away third as Ready Set Rock claimed the front, but Morrill couldn’t wait and came early to take the top at the quarter. From there, he settled his mare and dictated the rest of the mile. Saulsbrook Olymipia was the first one to challenge as they headed onto the second circuit and drew alongside The Stunning Nun N approaching three-quarters, and from there the race was on. The Stunning Nun N first pushed away and got a one-length advantage heading into the stretch. But Saulsbrook Olympia fought back heading to the wire and crept back up on the leader. She got to within a half length but The Stunning Nun N refused to lose and hit the line first in 1:55.2.
It was the fifth win of the year for The Stunning Nun N, who is trained and owned by Mike Deters in partnership with Joel Warner, John Manning and Barbara Jensen. She paid $3 to win.
Morrill won a total of four races on Wednesday as he also scored with Jeremes General (1:56 winning mile, $6.20 to win), Embrace The Rust (1:58.3, $5.40) and BJ Lorado (1:59.3, $2.40).
In the co-featured $14,000 Fillies and Mares Open II Handicap, Misty Memory N got away fifth, watching Ideally Sweet lead the field to the half. It was there that driver Dave McNeight III came first over with Misty Memory N and started the slow grind in the breeze towards the leader. When they got to three-quarters, Ideally Sweet was still two lengths ahead of the parked-third Misty Memory N, but this game mare just kept digging. She made up incremental ground around the last turn and never drew even with the leader until halfway down the stretch. But Misty Memory N eventually got the lead and held off the tripping My Standards, who made a late dash, to win by a half length in 1:55.3.
Misty Memory N is owned by Mark Toth and Paul Lang and is trained by Jennifer Giuliani. She paid $6.90 to win.
Besides Morrill, other participants with multiple wins on Wednesday include drivers John Macdonald with three and Drew Monti with two, and trainers Angelo Nappo and Maria Rice also with two wins each.
The Jackpot Super Hi-5 in the 12th race that had a carryover of $829 on Wednesday night was hit and the 2-4-3-5-1 combination returned $1,428.20 for the 20-cent wager.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Friday (Oct. 7) at 6 p.m. (EDT). This is the final Friday night of racing for 2022.
(Batavia Downs)