Batavia: Fields drawn for $2.4 million Night of Champions

The draw for the $2.4 million New York Sire Stake finals is complete and 61 of the top state-bred 2- and 3-year-old trotters and pacers have been declared and will go postward at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Sept. 6). The eight divisions will be contested for $300,000 each and the first race on Saturday is a 6 p.m.

This year’s finals will feature some of the best young performers in North America this year including 2-year-old trotting filly Sharp Seven (Chapter Seven-Looking Sharp), 2-year-old trotting colt Titans Mischief (E L Titan-Morosita Bi), 2-year-old pacing colt Fragment (Huntsville-The Show Returns), 3-year-old trotting filly My Debt Collector (Chapter Seven-Magic Presto), 3-year-old trotting colt Variegated (Chapter Seven-White Cheetah), 3-year-old pacing filly The Last Martini (Huntsville-Martinique) and 3-year-old pacing gelding Dandy Ideal (American Ideal-OK Heavenly). They all currently rank in the top five for earnings in their respective categories for 2025 in North American going into this event.

And all four of last year’s 2-year-old champions (The Last Martini, Courts On Fire, Royal Mission and Variegated) will be back to try and take the sophomore crown home as well.

All of the New York Sire Stake circuit’s finest horsemen will be on hand including the NYSS series leading trainers Jared Bako, Marcus Melander, Ron Burke and Ray Schnittker, along with top of the leaderboard drivers Tyler Buter, Jason Bartlett, Matt Kakaley and Mark Macdonald. Other top names who are scheduled to be on hand are Yannick Gingras, Tim Tetrick, Ake Svanstedt, Scott Zeron and Brett Beckwith.

The NYSS races are programmed as race two, three, five, six, eight, nine, 10 and 11. With the caliber of horse that has drawn in and the talent scheduled to be on-site to drive them, it could possibly be the greatest night of racing in the 85-year history of Batavia Downs.

The full draw is available at ustrotting.com under the Racing tab.

There will also be two guaranteed pools at Batavia Downs on Saturday. Both Pick-4 pools (beginning in race 3 and in race 7) will be guaranteed at $7500 each for that Saturday night card. These guarantees are made in conjunction with the United States Trotting Association's Strategic Wagering Program.

Free full card Harness Eye past performances will be available for the card at drf.com/harness. Fans will also be able to watch the races live.

-edited release (By Tim Bojarski for Batavia Downs)