Outsiders dominate Batavia’s final evening

Batavia, NY – A Saratoga Raceway shipper and a local 10-1 player were a pair of literal outsiders who captured easy victories in Saturday’s (Dec. 20) running event at Batavia Downs, while battling near hurricane wind gusts that lashed the entire map.

The $12,500 Open I-II Handicap pace was contested first and Spa invader, Hunter Hill, made quick and easy use of the local entries.

Hunter Hill (Drew Monti) rode second behind I Ain’t No Mack (Kevin Cummings) to the quarter of :27.2 before pulling and taking the lead before reaching the half in :57 flat. From there, Hunter Hill marched smartly to three-quarters despite a legitimate challenge from Toreador Gb (Joe Chindano Jr.) during that panel. But Hunter Hill put that threat to rest around the final turn and had a two-length lead entering the stretch. Straightening for home, Hunter Hill swelled and shot to the line, a clear winner by 4-¾ lengths in 1:56.

Despite posting poor scores in four of his last five starts, Hunter Hill was heavily backed at Batavia and returned $5.04 for the win. Hunter Hill is owned and trained by Scott West.

HUNTER HILL REPEAT

Then, in the $12,500 Open trot, the mutually overlooked Dougadougadew pulled off a perfect trip to strike late for his second straight victory.

Dougadougadew (Kyle Cummings) was in the cozy pocket behind El Toro Loco (Kevin Cummings) for quarters of :28.4, 1:00.1 and 1:29.4 as the rest of the field trailed the leaders by three lengths. As the top pair came out of the final corner, Dougadougadew pulled off the pins, shifted gears and blew right past El Toro Loco on his way to a 4¼ length victory in 2:00.1.

DOUGADOUGADEW REPEAT

It was the fourth win of the year for Dougadougadew ($22.24), owned by Doug and Tyra Ackley and trained by Tammy Cummings.

The triple threat of driver Kevin Cummings, trainer Sam Smith and owner Mike Torcello struck again with four winners on breakout day at The Downs, putting an exclamation point on their highly successful season.

The trio scored with the heavily staked True That (2:00.2, $6.34), Nautical Hanover (1:59, $3.52), Tymal Envoy (2:01.4, $2.46) and Wild Bill Kelso (2:02.3, $2.94).
Live racing will resume in 2026 at Batavia Downs on Tuesday (Jan. 13) at 3 p.m.

Replays of all races held in 2025 are available on the Downs website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the Live Racing tab and then Race Replays on the left side of the menu.

For full race results, click here: American trotting results.

Through Tim Boyarskifor Batavia Downs