Lutetium made it three victories in four starts thanks to a two-length victory in Friday’s $8,500 Open Trot at Batavia Downs.
It was a typical win for Lutetium as driver Jack Flanigen sent the six-year-old gelding right to the lead and told the remainder of the field "catch me if you can." He set the sizzling fractions of 28.1, 57.3 and 1:26.4 en route to the 1:57.4 score. No one mounted a serious threat in stopping the front-stepping Lutetium ($4.10) from winning for the 11th time in 38 starts this year. Fiorentina was second best while RAs Shakenbake took the show spot.
Lutetium (Credit Winner-Luby) is owned by Colleen Girdlestone and trained by Mark Laidlaw. The victory pushed his 2013 earnings to $58,134 and $185,806 lifetime.
The Batavia Downs' season comes to a close on Saturday night with a 13-race card scheduled to get underway at 6:30 p.m. The feature is the $8,500 Open Pace where Goodnite Goodluck opens as the 5-2 morning line favourite. Ron Beback, Jr. will drive Goodnite Goodluck and will score him from the five hole.
The Pick-6 contest was not won meaning that the $1,000 pool will be paid out to whoever picks the most winners on Saturday night. Sign up to play begins at 5:00 p.m. at Players Club. The entire pick-5 pool must also be paid out.
The night will also feature the 'Night Of Distinction' where horses, trainers and drivers will be honoured by the Upstate New York Harness Writers Association for their achievements at Batavia Downs and in Western New York during the 2013 campaign.
(Batavia Downs)