In the first $39,200 split, Ghost Dance (American Ideal-Epoxy Queen) pulled the upset at 9-1 and closed hard to do it.
The heavy post-time favourite Topville Olympian (Brett Miller) shot right to the front and took the field to the half in :55.3. There, Rockapelo (Jason Bartlett) pulled first-up with Ghost Dance (Scott Zeron) on his back as they headed into the turn. Rockapelo cleared quickly around the tiring Topville Olympian, whose gap then allowed Ghost Dance to drop back to the pylons behind the new leader to save ground. These two stood pat until the top of the lane, where Zeron pulled Ghost Dance and paced by Rockapelo at the wire, winning by a length in 1:52.
“The race set up well for us and he got brave with the two-hole trip. And then he paced strong in the lane,” said Zeron after the race.
It was the fourth win of the year for Ghost Dance ($20.00), and it pushed his earnings to $98,002 for owner Millar Farm. Rick Zeron trains the winner.
The second $39,200 split was won by Ideal Feeling (American Ideal-Feelinglikeastar), who made a statement move at the half and then stretched out from there.
Ostro Hanover (Louis-Philippe Roy) rushed to the front and set early splits of :27 and :56.3. But before they hit that second timer, Ideal Feeling (Jason Bartlett) was out and rolling and took the front by the time they hit the third turn and from there, the race was history. Ideal Feeling opened up a three-length advantage as he hit the third quarter in 1:24 and then rounded the final bend and cruised home in :28, winning by as many as he wanted in 1:52.
“Last time he had the eight-hole and had no chance, but he just felt like he was a great horse. I was hoping Mike (trainer Deters) would bring him up here because I thought he’d be good. He showed it today, he’s a real nice horse. He left, he came first-over and he won easy,” Bartlett said after the race.
Rick Berks owns Ideal Feeling ($7.90), who now has four wins this season and $62,791 in purses.
The third $39,200 division looked to be a match race between Springsteen and Hitman Hill, and it was for three-eighths of a mile. But it was Mach N Cheese (Betterthancheddar-Mach You And Me) who pulled off an upset at 19-1 when they hit the wire.
Hitman Hill (Brett Miller) was intent on cutting the race and he got his way, leading the group to the half in a slow :57.1. Not happy with the tepid pace, Springsteen (Roy) came up first with Mach N Cheese (Jim Marohn Jr.) in tow. Springsteen locked up with Hitman Hill up the backside and the two tangled from there, around the last turn and down the stretch. But Mach N Cheese, who had been drafting during the up-front battle, tipped three-wide in the straight and, under heavy prompting from Marohn, paced by the leaders to win by a neck in 1:53.4.
“It was a slow half, but we picked it up pretty good up the backside and there was a really good horse on the front. But I followed the horse I needed to follow, and everything just worked out for us from the top of the stretch home. He got around here very well. He’s a very good half-mile track horse,” said Marohn in the winner’s circle.
Mach N Cheese ($41.00) scored his sixth win of the year for the Save The Day Stable and trainer Rob Harmon.
There was one Excelsior “A” race on the card and the winner there could have competed in the top class tonight.
Thor De Vie (So Surreal-Pebblebeach De Vie) was very impressive, leading every step of the way and winning by four lengths in 1:52.2, which was a new lifetime mark for the winner. Thor De Vie ($3.30) is owned by his trainer Jim Graham in partnership with Lee Winters, Paul Tandlmayer and Giuseppe Micchia.
Batavia Downs offered a $2,000 guaranteed early Pick-5 pool on Wednesday, and once again there were no winning tickets. As a result there is a $2,900 carryover for Friday (Sept. 7) and there will be another guaranteed pool of $6,000 for the early Pick-5 (which runs from race one to race five) that will be part of the USTA Strategic Wagering program. Post time Friday evening is 6 p.m.