In his last trip to Batavia Downs three weeks ago, Dragin The Wagon won handily wire-to-wire in 1:56.1. After two starts at Yonkers, he returned to the Genesee County oval for a curtain call as the star of the show once again as he won the $10,000 Open Handicap Trot on Friday night (November 24) in rein to Billy Davis Jr.
Dragin The Wagon went right to the front and opened a gapped lead that would only get bigger. After grabbing leather to the half in :58.4 on a two-length advantage, Davis gave Dragin The Wagon his head while motoring up the backside and that is where he started to pull away. Two lengths turned into four at the three-quarters, six lengths at the top of the lane and eight lengths at the wire where he stopped the clock in 1:56.3 as the rest of the field could only watch from afar.
The win was the seventh of the year for Dragin The Wagon ($3.50), who now has earned $71,655 for Ontario-based owners Cary, David and Michael Cantelon. The homebred seven-year-old gelded son of Angus Hall is trained by Jeff Byron.
In the co-featured $8,500 Open II Trot, Lutetium (Kevin Cummings) also went coast-to-coast by a gapped margin to win his seventh race of the year under wraps in 1:58. Colleen Girdlestone owns Lutetium ($4.30), who has now bankrolled $44,355 for the year. The winner of 58 races lifetime is trained by Priscilla Mooney.
Kevin Cummings led all drivers on Friday with four wins on the card. Over the last eight nights of racing at Batavia Downs, Cummings has also led all drivers in wins with 22 over that period, finishing first in 25 percent of his starts. Once well out of the dash competition earlier this year, Cummings is now a closing fourth and definitely in the conversation for one of the top three spots.
Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday evening (November 25) with post time at 6 p.m.
(With files from Batavia Downs)