Thunder Country strikes at 13-1 in six-horse photo finish

Batavia, NY — There were some scary-good harness racing performances put forth on Saturday (Oct. 31) night at Batavia Downs as Chamba and Thunder Country swept a pair of top class races and driver Drew Monti won five races on the card.

Chamba (Joe Chindano Jr.) won the $13,500 Open Handicap trot after taking the lead from post four and maintaining that position to the wire. Chamba reached the half in :58.2 before being challenged by Crazy Ritz (Jim McNeight Jr.) at five-eighths. Crazy Ritz rolled up the outside and got to Chamba’s wheel at three-quarters in 1:27.2. From there, Chamba stopped the advance by Crazy Ritz and kept him no closer than that around the last turn and down the lane. When they reached the line, Chamba was a game winner by a length in 1:57.2.

CHAMBA REPLAY

It was the 20th career win for Chamba ($6.36) and pushed his lifetime bankroll past one-quarter million, now standing at $253,078. Chamba is owned by Rock 01 Stable and trained by Jerry Nugent.

Then Thunder Country (Andy Shetler) pulled the 13-1 upset in the $13,500 Open Handicap pace after finding himself last at the half while More Than Ya Know (John Cummings Jr.) got the field there in :57.2. Moving onto the second circuit, Lip Reader A (Drew Monti) was first-over on the attack at three-quarters, in an outer flow that found Thunder Country three back on the outside, but still last in the pack. More Than Ya Know continued to lead around the last turn but as they entered the lane, the entire field was stacking up behind him and evenly gaining ground. When the group finally reached the line, all six horses were across the track separated by only three-quarters of a length and a photo revealed that Thunder Country had rallied from last to first to win by a neck in 1:54.4.

It was the fifth win of the year for Thunder Country ($29.78), who is owned and trained by his driver, Andy Shetler.

THUNDER COUNTRY REPLAY

Batavia Downs leading driver, Drew Monti, finished third in both Opens, but still managed to tack on five more tallies to his total on Saturday. Monti won with Silverhill Blaze (1:56, $6.54), who registered his 65th lifetime win, Ideal Catch (1:56.4, $3.96), Pinebushdragonlife (1:54.1, $6.82), Sawyer’s Desire (1:54.4, $5.06) and Beantownboy (1:56.2, $2.98).

Jennifer Petrelli and Sam Dilcher both had two training wins on Saturday.

Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Nov. 4) at 5:00 p.m. and there will be a $28,788 carryover in the Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta wager in the 12th 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.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs