Batavia Downs’ season of live racing concluded on December 6 in front of a completely sold out clubhouse and robust grandstand crowd.
Good crowds was more the rule than the exception in 2014 at the oldest lighted harness track in North America. Officials at the track state that the good crowd sizes were due to a great live product on the track and one of the most aggressive slates of promotions ever presented in western New York.
On the racing side, driver Kevin Cummings was a runaway winner of the dash-winning title as he registered 163 wins, $718,148 in purses and a UDR of .385. Cummings’ 163 wins was the second highest win total ever recorded for a meet at Batavia behind Jim Morrill Jr.’s 177 victories, which was set back in 2006. Drew Monti finished second with 83 wins and Shawn McDonough was third with 76 victories.
Jim Morrill Jr. led all drivers in UDR with a phenomenal .479, hitting the board 123 times in 192 starts. He amassed $485,172 in winnings along the way. Morrill also posted a six-win night on October 24, while along with Cummings and Monti, also had multiple five-win nights throughout the meet.
Trainer J.D. Perrin led all local conditioners with 48 wins, $221,599 in purses and a UTR of .353, which was also the highest UTR of all trainers with at least 100 starts at the meet. Local legend Gerry Sarama was second with 41 tallies and Alex Giuliani finished the meet very strong to be third with 39 first-place finishes.
The horses provided great races to watch and wager on all year and produced some memorable moments that included five new track records.
The first of three track records that occurred in New York Sire Stake action happened on July 28 when All Bets Off (driven by Matt Kakaley) lowered the standard for three-year-old pacing colts when he scored an eight-length victory in 1:51.2. That time was only one-fifth of a second shy of the all-time track record set by Aracache Hanover in 2011.
Then, on August 20, Buen Camino (Trond Smedshammer) set a new mark for two-year-old trotting geldings when he toured the course in 1:58 in an unchallenged romp.
The final was registered on August 27 when Sassa Hanover (Jim Morrill Jr.) rewrote the two-year-old filly pacer mark with a 1:54.2 victory in a more than convincing style.
In the aged horse category, Lutetium (July 27) and Second Hand News (August 10) both broke the mark for older gelding trotters when they each stopped the timer in 1:56 in their respective races.
The $50,000 Robert J. Kane Pace, Batavia Downs’ signature stakes event, was held on October 18 and it provided one of the most exciting finishes of the year. After current track record holder Aracache Hanover (Kevin Cummings) went to the front and tried to best his own mark, eventual winner Bolt The Duer and local driving favourite John Cummings Jr. saved ground at the rail to the top of the stretch when he came up the inside in a four-horse scramble down the lane to win in 1:53.4.
BZ Glide was named Trotter of the Meet, Fireyourguns was named Pacer of the Meet and Bazooka Terror was named the Pacing Mare of the Meet.
Inclement weather hindered the proceedings five times this year at Batavia when everything from wind to rain to snow caused one cancellation in August and four in November. That was the largest number of cancelled racing dates in one year in the history of the track.
At the windows, Batavia held its own and saw a slight increase in handle. The on-track handle was virtually unchanged from last year, and it actually ending up $7 a night. And after back to back years of significant growth in the export handle, this year saw an increase of 6 per cent. The total handle was up 1.1 per cent.
Todd Haight, the track’s director/general manager of live racing said that “The meet had its ups and downs, but for the most part the season went well.” He added that the track “regretted the five cancellations, but circumstances dictated (that) they were necessary and we did end up recouping some of those dates.
“We will go back to drawing board now to look at what worked and what could be improved and try to please the fans with new promotions. Next year we will be adding some more afternoon programs, including Halloween, which is also Breeders’ Cup day. And we are also evaluating our post times and may make some adjustments there as well.”
Haight concluded, “I would like to thank all our horsemen for all their hard work and effort and our fans who came out in solid numbers all year. “
Pending approval from the New York State Gaming Commission, Batavia will resume live racing on July 27 and will run through December 12.
(With files from Batavia Downs)