In what could only be described as the claim of the year in western New York, Thunderbolt Jaxon, who was taken for $12,500 on October 1, has now won his third straight $9,500 Open pacing feature at Batavia Downs on Saturday night (December 3).
Thunderbolt Jaxon (Ray Fisher Jr.) left sharply and eventually took the lead after being parked out by Inthenameofjames (Drew Monti) to the quarter. When the field settled in, they stayed single-file to the half when Shady City (Larry Stalbaum) pulled and started an outer flow with Knocking Around (Dave McNeight III) on his heels.
Feeling the heat, Fisher let his charge out a notch up the backside and put some space between him and the attackers as they sped by three-quarters in 1:26.1. At the head of the stretch, Inthenameofjames popped out of the two-hole and took a quick shot at the leader. But that challenge was swiftly turned away as Fisher rocked and knocked in perfect timing and Thunderbolt Jaxon sped away to an easy two-length victory in 1:55.1.
The win was the sixth in nine starts since being claimed, and 10th of the year for Thunderbolt Jaxon ($10.80). He has now accrued $53,846 in annual earnings, the bulk of which has benefited his current owner Mike Torcello. The four-year-old gelded son of Mach Three is trained by Gerry Sarama.
In the co-featured $8,600 Open II Pace, P H Hellcat (Shawn Gray) led from the quarter-pole until about 200 feet from the wire -- that’s when the pocket-sitting Brees Creek (Drew Monti) paced on by him to win by a neck in 1:56. Brees Creek ($8.70) is owned by the Resilient Racing Stable and trained by Rose Russo.
Several horsepeople had multiple win performances on Saturday night, led by Drew Monti, who had a driving triple. Shawn Gray had a driving double while Sean McDonough was victorious with two horses he both drove and trained. And trainers Rose Russo and JD Perrin each sent two students to the Purple Haze Winner’s Circle for pictures.
(With files from Batavia Downs)