Cole Hard Cash needed every inch of the Batavia Downs historic half-mile track Saturday night to come from behind and beat Shu Fu by a nose in the featured $8,000 Open II Pace.
Sitting second behind the pacesetting, even-money favourite Shu Fu and Ray Fisher Jr., Cole Hard Cash ($7), under the urging of red-hot driver Dan Noble, dropped down into the passing lane and just caught the front-runner in the last stride at the wire.
Shu Fu had set fractions of :28.1, :59.2 and 1:28, and stayed strong down the lane thanks to a :31.1 second quarter breather. But Cole Hard Cash used a :28.4 last quarter to get the job done, tripping the timer in 1:56.4. Le Reina Road and Dave McNeight III took the show position on a brisk evening that featured snow flurries.
Cole Hard Cash, a six-year-old Cole Muffler gelding, is owned by Eim Racing of Lackawanna, New York. and trained by James Dunn. The victory was the 10th of the season for Cole Hard Cash, who has earned $61,091 this year.
Noble had a huge weekend at the Downs; he had a six-bagger on Friday night and won six more on Saturday.
Jack Flanigen inched closer to the 4,000-win milestone. He currently sits at 3,997.
There are just four racing programs left on the 2012 racing schedule. The next action comes on Friday night with post time 6:25 p.m. Friday night features a guaranteed payout in the Pick 6. The carryover pool heading into Fridays 12-race program is $1,599. All monies in the Pick 6 pool will be dispersed to whomever picks the most winners.
(With files from Batavia Downs)