It was a strange finish to say the least, but The Mistress managed to just hang on over Youre Too Funny in a photo finish in Wednesday night's $9,000 Fillies and Mares Open Pace at Batavia Downs.
The Mistress and driver Dan Noble seemed to have the race well in hand down the lane, but when The Mistress needed a few taps of the whip as a reminder in deep stretch, Noble was helpless. His whip got caught in a piece of The Mistress' equipment and Noble wasn't able to free it until just before the wire.
Youre Too Funny and driver Jack Flanigen, meanwhile, were flying on the outside and nearly took advantage of the oddity, but just came up just a nose short. Evil Eva (Shawn Gray) finished in third.
The Mistress ($5.30), who took the lead just before the quarter pole, carved out fractions of :28.2, :58.4, and 1:27.3 en route to victory in 1:56.
The win was the eighth of the season for The Mistress, owned by Super Mile LLC of Blasdell, New York and trained by John Mungillo. The Mistress has now won five of her last eight races and has earnings of $56,942 in 2012.
John Cummings Jr. had a driving grand slam on the night.
Batavia Downs will present a 12-race card Friday night scheduled to begin at 6:25 p.m. The feature is the Open II Fillies and Mares Trot with a purse of $6,000. Cabo is the morning line 5-2 favourite with Jamie Dunlap in the sulky. Cabo seeks her seventh win of the season.
(Batavia Downs)