When French-bred trotter Bioness last competed at Batavia Downs, he won the $15,000 Schroeder Invitational Trot in October. On Friday (November 9), he stayed undefeated at the Genesee County oval by taking the $11,500 Open Handicap trotting feature under a slick drive by his young reinsman Hunter Oakes, over a very sloppy track.
When the wings folded, Bioness started the long trek from post seven to the front and gained that position by the quarter in :29.4. But his lead was short-lived as the local hot-trotter Lougazi (Ray Fisher Jr.) pulled at the three-eighths and rushed to the front by the half and crossed to the pylons into the second circuit.
Southern Palms (Kevin Cummings) made the next move, pulling at the five-eighths and drawing near Lougazi as the race progressed through the third panel. The top two trotters battled around the last turn and into the stretch before a gap allowed Oakes to pull Bioness out of the pocket and jet between them. He was by Southern Palms and overtook Lougazi at the wire to win in 1:59.4 by one-half length.
The win was the fifth of 2018 for Bioness ($2.70), who now has $107,438 on his card for the year. The seven-year-old altered son of Sam Bourbon is owned by the Northfork Racing Stable and is trained by Chris Oakes.
For the 20-year-old Hunter Oakes, the win was his fourth consecutive in only five career drives and his first career victory at Batavia Downs in his Western New York homecoming.
In the $8,800 Open II Trot, Labatt Hanover and driver Shawn McDonough sat third most of the mile before tipping three-wide off cover in the lane to catch Barn Winner (Ray Fisher Jr.) at the wire in 2:00.1. The win was the second in his last three starts. Labatt Hanover ($11.60) is owned by Gary and Cynthia Saj. McDonough also does the training.
There was no winner in the early Pick-5 wager on Friday so the $2,756 carryover will supplement a guaranteed $7,000 pool for the early Pick-5 wager when live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday night (November 10). This bet will be part of the USTA Strategic Wagering Program and as such, will offer free race pages for races one through five for Batavia Downs tomorrow courtesy of Trackmaster. These free pages can be downloaded at ustrotting.com under the “Handicapping” tab. Post time for the first race is 6 p.m.
(With files from Batavia Downs)