It’s not too often a horse gets passed at the head of the lane and comes back on to win, but that is exactly what Justgottogetthere did in Friday night’s (Dec. 4) $9,000 Open II trotting feature at Batavia Downs.
Leaving from post four, Justgottogetthere (Ron Beback Jr.) left quickly to take the lead and provide pylon-starter Leave Your Mark (Kevin Cummings) with a perfect pocket trip. The rest of the field struggled to keep up as the leading pair went to the half in :59.3.
After that second station, it became two separate races; Justgottogetthere and Leave Your Mark broke away from the pack by four lengths. Cummings pulled Leave Your Mark at the three-quarter pole and drew alongside of Justgottogetthere before taking a length lead at the top of the stretch. Looking well on his way to victory, Leave Your Mark was quickly rebuffed when Beback urged Justgottogetthere on and the game trotter responded, retaking the lead and eventually winning the race by a length in 1:58.3.
The win was the 10th of the year for Justgottogetthere ($7.50), but the first since August 28. The winner’s share of the purse pushed his 2015 earnings to $63,402 for owners Antonietta Landi and North Creek Racing LLC. Jerry Nugent Jr. trains the six-year-old gelded son of Valley Victor.
Shawn McDonough had the hot hands on Friday, winning four races driving as well as one as trainer. Drew Monti was right behind with a hat-trick and Ron Beback Jr. doubled up. Trainers Russell Bratt and Alex Giuliani both sent two winners to get their pictures taken.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday night (Dec. 5) at 6:15 p.m. There are only four cards of racing left in the 2015 meet.
(With files from Batavia Downs)