As Batavia Downs’ final three cards of racing are set to be held Friday (December 5) and Saturday (December 6), the top horsemen of the meet have been named by the upstate New York chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association.
Kevin Cummings was named the driver of the meet, J.D. Perrin was named the trainer of the meet and Mike Caprio has been named the Comeback Driver of the Year.
Cummings has simply owned the 2014 Batavia meet. He currently has 158 wins (almost twice as many as his nearest competitor), $693,013 in purses earned and a UDR of .390 for the meet. Cummings is having a career year overall for wins (329), earnings ($1.53-million) and UDR (.362), his highest for any year he had at least 500 starts. His UDR also places him 11th in North America among all drivers. Cummings has finished in the money 54 per cent of the time all year.
Perrin has followed up a career year with an almost mirror image. He currently has 43 conditioning wins for the Batavia meet and that puts him on top of his peers by four. His horses have winnings in excess of $200,000 and those performances have also earned Perrin a UTR of .346. His 12-month body of work has yielded 120 victories, $550,188 earned and a UTR of .362. Like Cummings, his horses have also finished in the money 54 per cent of the time all year.
Caprio bounced back in a big way on the local scene in 2014, as he had his best year at the lines since 2006. The 35-year veteran’s totals for starts (157), wins (23) and earnings ($144,000) were his best in eight years after having raced on a part-time basis during that time. For his career, Caprio has won 1,885 races and over $4 million in purses. This year he had the distinction of being the regular driver of both Batavia Downs Trotter of the Year (BZ Glide) and Pacer of the Year (Fireyourguns).
Cummings, Perrin and Caprio will receive their awards in the Purple Haze winner’s circle on Saturday night (December 6) during UNY-USHWA’s Night of Distinction.
(USHWA)