Kyle Cummings grabs a six pack at Batavia Downs

Batavia, NY —  Kyle Cummings has been on a bit of a tear recently at Batavia Downs but really put up some serious numbers on Wednesday night (Oct. 26) after he won six of the 10 races he drove on the card including natural hat tricks in races five, six and seven and races 11, 12 and 13.

Cummings won with Rockin N Kissin (1:59.2, $2.10), How About Murph (1:58.2, $7.80), Im Chiara (1:59.3, $6.20), Muscle High (2:01.3, $11.20), Lucky King (1:57.4, $6.80) and Candy’s Desire (1:58.2, $5.40). Cumming’s outstanding driving also gave him a lofty UDR of .600 for the night.

With his performance on Wednesday, Kyle Cummings moved into third place for driving wins at the current Batavia meet, now boasting 47 wins. He passed Dave McNeight III who now sits in fourth, but is still behind the leaders, Kevin Cummings (102) and Jim Morrill Jr. (93).

The 22-year-old Cummings has only been driving for four years, yet he already surpassed $2 million in earnings on October 15 and is in the midst of a career year for wins (105), earnings ($860,464) and UDR (.270) with two months left to go.

Rockin N Kissin, Muscle High, Lucky King and Candy’s Desire are all trained by Kyle’s mother, Tammy Cummings, who got the grand slam for her efforts and led all other conditioners for wins on Wednesday.

The one race either Cummings didn’t win was the $14,000 Open Handicap pace for fillies and mares where Saulsbrook Olympia got back on track after having only one board hit in her last five outings.

Dave Mcneight III left with Saulsbrook Olympia from post one and seated Somebeachsomefra (Jim Morrill Jr.) in the process. Saulsbrook Olympia then proceeded to take the single file field to the quarter in :28.4, the half in :59.4 and then halfway up the backstretch before anyone made a move. That one was Shecouldbegood N (Kevin Cummings) who moved from third on the pegs to second in the breeze by three-quarters. In the turn, Saulsbrook Olympia responded to that challenge and then under minimal urging paced home on top by 1-½ lengths in 1:57.

Continuing a great year, Saulsbrook Olympia ($2.70) claimed her ninth win of 2022 and pushed her earnings to $73,266 for owners William McNeil and Edward Gorc. Jeniffer Giuliani trains the winner.

Two milestones were reached by a pair of veteran horses on Wednesday. The aforementioned 11-year-old pacer Lucky King and the 13-year-old trotter Osprey Vision both scored their 50th career wins.

Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Oct. 29) at 6 p.m. and there is another carryover available. The Jackpot Hi-5 Pentafecta in the 13th race will start with $1,387 in the pool. Free full past performance race programs for all live race days can be downloaded by visiting the track’s website at bataviadownsgaming.com and clicking the “Live Racing” tab and then you watch all the races live on the Batavia Downs YouTube channel.

By Tim Bojarski for Batavia Downs