After taking a wait and see approach, JATO (Mike Caprio) mounted a furious closing brush to defeat his foes and earn the winner's share of the $10,000 purse in the Open Trot at Batavia Downs on Friday night (July 29).
With the morning line favourite Lutetium scratched, a short but select field of five lined up behind the gate. It was a three-horse blast for the lead as Studio City (Dave McNeight III), Noble Legend (Kevin Cummings) and Lucid Thoughts (Shawn McDonough) were spread across the track. Noble Legend eventually won the argument and the field settled in for the journey.
The leader cut fractional times of :28.2 and :58.1 before Red Clay (Drew Monti) pulled and advanced to second by the three-quarters in 1:28.1. These two then trotted side by side, stride for stride around the far turn while JATO was winding it up from last in overdrive and began gobbling up ground. Caprio tipped three-deep at the top of the stretch and JATO simply trotted away from the field from there, winning by two lengths in 1:58.4.
The win was the second in only six starts this year for JATO ($6), who is owned by Margaret Butler and Amy Butler and is trained by Alana Caprio.
In the co-featured $8,400 conditioned trot, Leave Your Mark (Todd Cummings) took a quick, early lead and dictated the first three-quarters of the race. But around the last turn, Serious George (Kevin Cummings) tipped three-deep around Undercover Bro (Ray Fisher Jr.) and trotted his hips off down the lane to power by Leave Your Mark and win by one half-length in 1:59.2. The win was the second of the year for Serious George, who is owned by James Palladino and trained by Richard Mays.
Kevin Cummings, Mike Caprio and Ray Fisher Jr. all had driving doubles and conditioner John Mungillo sent two winners to post.
(With files from Batavia Downs)