It's been four years since Foiled Again, harness racing's richest pacer of all-time, appeared on the Batavia Downs half-mile oval.
Foiled Again will be back on Saturday night (October 5) when he headlines the stellar seven-horse field in the 11th annual $50,000 Robert J. Kane Memorial Pace. The lucrative dash has been scheduled as the seventh contest on the 13-race program. First post is at 6:30 p.m.
"For a small track like ours to get a horse like Foiled Again to race here again is a great accomplishment and a credit to our racing office," said Batavia Downs General Manager of Live Racing Todd Haight. "With our new gaming floor opening today and the Kane Memorial tomorrow, I think Mr. (Robert J.) Kane (former chairman of the Board of Western Regional Off-Track Betting, the owner of Batavia Downs) would be thrilled. It was his vision as chairman that got us to where we are today."
The nine-year-old Foiled Again has 'foiled' many opponents over the years. The statistics don't lie, as he has won 71 of 191 career starts, finished second or third in 74 other races and has $5,360,093 in earnings. He also set a lifetime mark of 1:48 in a victory over Pocono Downs' five-eighths-mile track earlier this year. So anyone with thoughts that Foiled Again might slow down with age can toss that theory out the window.
Foiled Again will start from Post 5 and will have the services of driver Brett Miller. The Ron Burke-trained Foiled Again is the 9-5 morning line favorite and is that for a reason.
He's won six times in 22 appearances this season and has earned $734,109 while facing the best pacers in harness racing. Only out of the money in five appearances this year, Foiled Again comes in after finishing third on August 31 in the $651,000 Canadian Pacing Derby at Mohawk Racetrack, but won by two and three-quarter lengths in a $20,000 elimination for the Quillen at Harrington. He then lost by a head to Clear Vision in the $223,500 Quillen final at Harrington Raceway on September 16.
The Kane Memorial is Foiled Again's final tune-up for the Breeders Crown eliminations at Pocono Downs next week.
A previous owner of Batavia Downs' all-time track record, Foiled Again will shoot to erase the mark of 1:51.1 set by Aracache Hanover in the 2011 Kane Memorial. With good weather conditions expected and six track records already broken this season at Batavia Downs, that standard could easily be in danger.
Foiled Again isn't going to go unchallenged however. The four-year-old Heston Blue Chip will be in the field and will start from Post 2 with Chris Page in the sulky. Trained by Linda Toscano, Heston Blue Chip won 14 of 18 starts last season and made $1,030,008. He's fresh off a solid third-place finish behind Clear Vision and Foiled Again in the $223,500 final of the Quillen. Heston Blue Chip has a lifetime mark of 1:48 at Dover Downs, set in 2012. Last year Heston Blue Chip was named top three-year-old colt pacer in the United States.
Also, one can't look past Steelhead Hanover with driver Tom Jackson, who will start from Post 6. Steelhead Hanover still holds the Buffalo Raceway all-time pacing record time of 1:52.3, set last season. A winner of six races this year in 21 starts, Steelhead Hanover has $106,835 in the bank and $431,408 lifetime. The four-year-old has a 1:49.1 time to his credit at Pocono Downs this season.
The remainder of the field includes Sportsman (John Cummings Jr.), Sheer Brilliance (Sean Bier), Fireyourguns (Mike Caprio) and Great Vintage (Larry Stalbaum).
(With files from Batavia)