Trainer Angelo Nappo earned the 1,000th win of his career as Dear Abbey won the 12th race at Batavia Downs on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Nappo has been involved in harness racing since 1976, when he got his first license at age 20, but he has been training full time since the early 1990s. Now three decades later, the resident of Derby, N.Y. has made his mark on the local racing scene. To go along with his 1,000 wins, Nappo also has 1,190 seconds and 1,187 thirds from his 7,928 lifetime starts with earnings of $6 million and a .259 UTR as of the end of the card Wednesday.
Nappo’s winningest years during his career were 2015 and 2016, when he posted 58 victories. So far this year, Nappo has a total of 26 wins and $358,070 in purse all-in for his efforts.
Dear Abbey ($5.50) paced in 1:56 for owner Super Mile LLC and was driven by Batavia Downs’ fast-rising sulky star, driver Chase Russo, who completed his first career hat trick as a result of Nappo's milestone win. Russo, who got his provisional license this summer, has already posted 20 wins, 21 seconds and 25 thirds from his 138 starts, giving him a .290 UDR for those outings.
The feature race on Wednesday was the $18,750 Fillies and Mares AA-Open Handicap Pace that was won by Arizona, who went coast to coast as the heavy favourite.
Arizona (Brady Galliers) left from post three and settled on the point with little issue. While Wicked Beauty A (Ray Fisher Jr.) drafted in the pocket, Arizona stepped off measured fractions of :29, :58 and 1:26.1 with no pressure from behind. When the field of five spun off the last turn, Wicked Beauty A and Utopia Blue Chip (Dale Spence) started to close some ground on the leader, but Arizona cruised home a winner by three-quarters of a length in 1:55. Utopia Blue Chip reached past Wicked Beauty A for place.
The win was the 44th from 126 career starts for the seven-year-old Arizona ($2.66). The Up The Credit-Jo And Maria mare is owned by Wendy Timpano and Herman Bardoel and trained by Mike Timpano.
Taylor Fritz was the leading conditioner for the night after sending three from her stable for win pictures during the 12-race card. She won with Double Up N ($7.94), who led at every call for a 1:56.1 victory, Mary Kat ($8.62), who pushed to the lead past the quarter on the way to a win in 1:56.1, and Mcvera ($7.56), who crossed the line second but was placed first through disqualification to tally in 1:54.4. Fritz has compiled a career-best 56 wins this year with a win rate of 21.6 per cent.
Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Thursday at 5 p.m. After no one hit the Pick Five on Wednesday, there is a $1,831 carryover pool for that wager in the first race on Thursday. The management of Batavia has announced that the pool will be guaranteed at $5,000 through the United States Trotting Association’s Strategic Wagering Program. As part of that program, TrackMaster will provide free full past performance pages that can be downloaded (when they become available) at handicapping.ustrotting.com. The Pick Five is a 50-cent minimum wager that starts in the first race. There is also another opportunity to win big at The Downs on Thursday with a carryover of $29,875 in the Jackpot Super High Five pentafecta in the 11th race, which has a 20-cent minimum wager.
(With files from Batavia Downs)