Since winning the driving title there in 2017 with 134 victories during that meet, Larry Stalbaum has since only driven at Batavia Downs eight times in the last four years, and without a victory. That all changed on Wednesday (Aug. 18), when Stalbaum shipped into Genesee County with Miss Irish Rose A, who won the $9,500 Fillies and Mares Open II pacing feature.
Miss Irish Rose A left from post six and led at every station. Stalbaum set fractions of :28, :58.1 and 1:27 as Lady Dudette (Kyle Cummings) tried to track from the pocket and Stay Beautiful (Braxton Boyd) attempted to push the issue from the outside. But none of that opposition seemed to matter to Miss Irish Rose A, who kept to her task, opened up a 2-1/2-length lead by the top of the stretch, and cruised home a wrapped-up winner in 1:55.2.
Miss Irish Rose A ($3.00) scored her fifth win of the year for Stalbaum, who also owns and trains the mare.
Shawn McDonough and Drew Monti each had two consecutive driving wins on the card to lead all other drivers for the night.
The guaranteed $12,500 Pick-5 pool on Wednesday drew a lot of interest and also provided a healthy payout. When the bell rang at the start of the first race, the final Pick-5 pool inflated to $24,832, and when the horses tripped the beam at the conclusion of race five, the combination of 4-4-4-6-1 returned a whopping $6,590 for a one-dollar wager.
Although the Pick-5 was hit, there are still two carryover pools available for the Jackpot wagers on Saturday (Aug. 21), when live racing resumes at Batavia Downs. The Jackpot Pick-6, which starts in race five, has a $2,008 carryover, and the Jackpot Super Hi-5 in race 10 has a carryover of $388. Post time for the first race is 6 p.m.
(Batavia Downs)