“Grand Slam Gray” stars at Batavia Downs Saturday

Batavia, NY — Driver Shawn Gray made the four hour drive from Saratoga to Batavia Downs on Saturday (Aug. 1) worth it after scoring four wins on the card, including wins in both co-feature races. Those features were $9,500 Class A events – one on the trot and one on the pace – and were won by Double Class and Moved Bythe Spirit. 

The trot went first and Double Class won his fifth race of the year in gate to wire fashion.

Gray put Double Class right on the point and with Mr. Squeeze (Drew Monti) sitting on his back, led through quarters of :29.2, 1:00.1 and 1:30 flat. The two horses maintained their positions while they broke away from the field in the far turn, but when they turned for home, Monti tipped Mr. Squeeze and took direct aim at Double Class. Mr. Squeeze was trotting hard and drew alongside Double Class in deep stretch. But Double Class would not let him by and crossed the line first by a nose in 1:58.3.

Double Class ($4.50) is owned by James Clouser Jr. and trained by Ron Beback Jr. 

Then in the pace, Gray tried to leave with Moved Bythe Spirit, but took back to fourth as Winmebak (Brett Macdonald) got there first and set the tempo at the quarter in :27 flat. As the race passed the half, Handsoffmytitos (Dave McNeight III) pulled first from third, and Gray was out again with Moved Bythe Spirit as they turned for the backstretch. Positions remained unchanged to three-quarters where Handsoffmytitos stalled, forcing Moved Bythe Spirit three-deep around him in the far turn, where he engaged Winmebak before entering the lane. Winmebak stayed even for about six pylons, but Moved By The Spirit was the better horse this night and pulled away to a 1-¾ length win in 1:54.4. 

It was the fourth win in the last five starts for Moved Bythe Spirit ($13.94), who is owned by Lucky Label Stable and trained by Taylor Fritz.

Gray closed out his four-bagger by winning with Chapter Twelve (2:00, $14.72) and Batting Stats (2:00.2, $5.20). 

Gray wasn’t the only hot driver Saturday, as Dave McNeight III and Drew Monti both had hat tricks during the night as well, meaning the three accounted for winning 10 of the 12 races on Saturday. There were also three trainers tied for top talent as Taylor Fritz, Sam Smith and Chris Petrelli each won two during the proceedings. 

Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Sunday (Aug 2) at 12:15 p.m. and there will be a $1,972 carryover in the Jackpot Hi-5 pentafecta wager in the 13th race. 

Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia Downs can always be downloaded at the track’s website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab. And you can watch all the races live as they happen for free on the Batavia Downs YouTube page.

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs