Monti gets a grand slam at Batavia Downs Thursday

Batavia, NY — Driver Drew Monti had another big day at Batavia Downs on Thursday (Sept. 17) after winning four races on the card, including one of the three $8,000 features. 

An $8,000 conditioned trot was one that Monti won with Brookview Darius, who got away sixth behind Frank’s Watching (Ray Fisher Jr.), who led from the start. When the race was approaching three-quarters, Brookview Darius was second-over behind Platinum Proposal (Shawn McDonough), but then swung three-deep and made his way to second at the top of the stretch. From there, Brookview Darius took the lead and held off a fast closing field to win by a half length in 1:59. 

It was the third straight win for Brookview Darius ($4.60), who is owned by Friendship Stables and trained by Sheena Cohen. 

Monti completed his four-bagger with Beantownboy (1:57, $5.12), Manny L (1:59.4, $4.30) and Mighty Santana N (1:57, $4.98). 

The other $8,000 conditioned trot went to Thirdtimesthedream (Brett Macdonald), who made a second-over move at the half in pursuit of Security Code S (Kevin Cummings), then worked his way to third at three-quarters and cleared the front at the top of the stretch. From there, Thirdrimesthedream maintained a half-length lead to the line in 1:59.

Thirdrimesthedream ($23.86) is owned by his driver, Brett Macdonald, in partnership with Shen Guo and Hartel Maintenance.

Then in the lone $8,000 conditioned pace, Northern Reign (Wade Tomasczewski) sat third as Thor De Vie (Dave McNeight III) and Pointomygranson (Drew Monti) went toe to toe to the half in :58 and three-quarters in 1:26.3. Positions remained the same around the turn and to the top of the stretch where Northern Reign shook clear and won by three-quarters of a length in 1:56.3.

Northern Reign ($17.16) is owned by Nancy Sweden and trained by Tom Mays. 

Sheena Cohen and Mihajlo Zdjelar Jr. had two training wins each. 

The $3,000 guaranteed pool in the first race Pick-5 produced a very healthy mutuel for that wager on Thursday. The combination of 3,7/6/2/6/2 returned $1,385.99 for the 50-cent wager. 

Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Sept. 19) at 5 p.m. and there will be a $4,555 carryover in the Jackpot Super 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