The Western New York Harness horsemen raced around the Batavia Downs oval on Wednesday night with one thing on their mind, helping out fellow horseman, Anthony Coletta.
And did they ever...horse owners, trainers, and drivers donated in most cases all of their Wednesday night earnings to “Stay Strong A. Coletta” fund. Coletta was badly injured in a racing accident on Nov. 17 at Harrah’s Philadelphia. The official amount raised won’t be known for a few days, but with so many helping out the total will exceed $2,500.
Vla Faire Scores In Mares Open
It's a good thing that races at Batavia Downs are a mile in length as Vla Faire ($3.30) needed every inch of it to post a victory in the $8,500 Fillies and Mares Open Pace on Wednesday night (Nov. 27).
Vla Faire (Shawn McDonough) sat the garden spot, dropped into the passing lane, and nudged out Artsy Princess (Kevin Cummings) by a neck in the shadow of the wire in 1:58 over the 'good' track. Red Star Fiona, a winner of three straight races, set the tempo by posting fractions of :29.4, 1:00.2, and 1:29, but had to settle for third for driver Ray Fisher Jr.
The win was the sixth of the season for Vla Faire (Village Jove-Trade Fair). The six-year-old mare is owned by Oakhurst Farms and trained by Richard Tomaszewski. She has now earned $54,180 in 2013 and $184,306 lifetime.
Racing continues on Friday night with a 12-race program scheduled. The feature is the $8,500 Open Trot with the red-hot Lutetium (Kevin Cummings) the 3-1 morning line choice despite being assigned the eight post. There are just five race nights left in the 2013 Batavia Downs season.
(Batavia Downs)