Sports

Amelia McMulley scored 18 points, putting her over 300 on the season, and had seven rebounds and our steals. Avelin Tomidy scored 14 points and had six rebounds. Emma Sisson scored eight points and had six rebounds.

There are no stats available for the Hornets.

Also in Girls Basketball on Friday:

Lancers top Attica, 47-31

• Pavilion beat Warsaw, 58-24. Lauren Kingsley scored 20 points, had six rebounds, four blocks and two steals. Karlee Zinkievich scored 18 points and had six rebounds and three steals. Kylie Conway scored eight points and had four steals. Ella Tillotson had 11 assists.
• Byron-Bergen beat Kendall, 56-21. Dayanara Caballero scored 17 points. Ava Wagoner scored 10.  Kendall Phillips and MacKenzie Senf scored nine each.
• Le Roy beat Arcadia 59-57, Lindsey Steffenilla scored 16 points and had eight rebounds. Abby Allen scored 15 points. Kenna MacKenzie scored 11 points. Corina Dunn scored eight and 13 rebounds.

In Boys Basketball:

• Batavia lost to Bishop Kearney 67-58. Sawyer Siverling scored 19 points and Rasheed Christie scored 12. Ja'vin McFollins scored nine.
• Warsaw beat Pavilion, 79-55

Photos by Kristin Smith. For more, click here.

The Elba Lancers won their sixth straight in Girls Basketball on Friday, beating Attica 47-31.

Sydney Reilly scored 11 points, had five assists and four steals.  Halie Scouten and Lydia Ross scored eight each.  Scouten had five steals and 10 rebounds. Kennedy Augello scored six points. 

Photos by Kristin Smith.

Press release:

The Genesee Amateur Hockey Association will host at The David McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena on Evans Street on Saturday, Feb, 25,  a USA Try Hockey For Free clinic as part of  USA Hockey  Week  Across  America.  Starting at 11:40 a.m. to 12:50 p.m., local youth, ages 4 to 9, are welcome at the rink to experience getting on the ice, learning how to “skate”, getting up after falling, basic skills with a hockey stick and shooting punks into a hockey net (all by being guided by the head coach and on-ice helpers).

“We look forward to welcoming families to the David McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena to try our great sport of ice hockey,” said Sharon Gray, Coordinator of the “Try Hockey for Free” event.  “Our goal is for these families to enjoy watching their kids learn new skills with big smiles on their faces.”

The head coach for the event is Erik Triftshauser, along with Fred Hamilton – both with more than 30 years on the ice plus starting out as GAHA players, high school players and GAHA coaches over the years.  Their on-ice helpers are mostly from this year’s United high school teams, along with the coaches’ sons.

The event is hosted by the USA Try Hockey for Free Coordinators – Sharon and Bob Gray, and the GAHA Beginner Program Player Coordinator – Marcia Barnes.  It is the team’s goal to provide the hockey experience to area youngsters free of charge and to encourage them to enroll in October to become a player in the GAHA Beginner Program, which starts the first week of October.  The Beginner Program consists of two sessions (October to December and January to March) with a total of 15 on-ice hours per session.

All the participants need is a helmet (hockey or bike) and winter gloves.   Skates are available at the rink if needed and will be provided FREE by the David M. McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena Management Team.

USA Hockey’s Try Hockey program, with the support of the National Hockey League and NHL member clubs, among others, is designed to provide youth hockey associations with a national platform for introducing children to the sport, free of charge. 

Oakfield-Alabama beat Genesee Region rivals Notre Dame on Thursday in Boys Basketball, 75-49.

Scoring for the Hornets: 

• Kyle Porter, 17 points, 7 rebounds
• Noah Currier, 13 points, three steals
• Brayden Smith, 13 points, 10 rebounds
• Colton Yasses, 11 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks
• Avery Watterson, 9 points, four  rebounds

For the Irish:

• Ryan Fitzpatrick, 11 points
• Jaden Sherwood, seven points
• Jordan Welker, seven points

"Tonight was a battle against a solid team," said O-A Coach Ryan Stehlar. "Their gym is never an easy place to play in, and Coach (Mikey) Rapone always has his team ready. I'm glad the boys locked in early. They really focused on defense and made big plays down the stretch. This is good momentum for a tough week coming up in our schedule."

The Hornets are now 12-2. The Irish are 11-5.

Other games in Boys Basketball on Thursday:

• Dansville beat Le Roy 65-58. Merritt Holly scored 27 points. Holly now has 395 points on the season.
• Attica beat Elba, 63-43
• Pembroke beat Kenmore East, 83-34

In Girls Basketball:

• Elba beat Batavia, 60-44. Sydney Reilly scored 17 points and had five steals.  Mariah Ognibene scored 10 points and had nine rebounds. Halie Scouten had six blocks. Madison Thompson had seven rebounds. After losing seven of their first nine games, the Lancers have won five straight.

Photos by Kristin Smith. For more, click here.

Pavilion's Lauren Kingsley has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball for Gannon University, a NCAA Division II school.

Submitted photos. Top photo Basketball Coach Ben Schwenebraten, Lauren Kingsley, Assistant Coach George Schwenebraten.

The Kingsley family, Emily, Val, Lauren, and Dave.

The Alexander Trojans fell to 5-10 in Boys Basketball on Tuesday with a loss to Wheatland-Chili, 60-48.

Dylan Pohl scored 16 points for the Trojans. Trent Woods scored 13 and Paul Schmitt scored eight.

Also in Boys Basketball on Tuesday:

• Notre Dame beat C.G. Finney, 74-68
• Oakfield-Alabama beat Rochester Prep, 61-53
• Pavilion beat Lyndonville, 67-50
• Pembroke beat Cheektowaga 76-75

In Girls Basketball:

• Elba beat Pavilion, 50-39.  Sydney Reilly scored 16 points for the Lancers. She had six assists and six steals. Maddie Hall scored 12 points. Mariah Ognibene had 13 rebounds to go with four points scored and two steals. For Pavilion, Lauren Kingsley scored 18 points and had 20 rebounds. Karlee Zinkievich scored eight points and had five assists. Kylie Conway scored eight points.
• Byron-Bergen lost to Gananda, 48-38.
• Le Roy beat Batavia, 45-40. Corina Dunn scored 17 points and had seven rebounds for Le Roy. Abby Allen scored 15 points. Lindsey Steffenilla had 10 rebounds.

To view or purchase photos, click here. Photos by Steve Ognibene

Press release:

On Monday (Jan. 23), Batavia Downs began a four-week Pop-Up Racing Series for Western New York-based Trackmaster pacers and trotters with preliminary leg classes going for between $6,000 and $9,000 each (depending on class). Monday saw 10 series races go postward and these events provided some very competitive racing.

The best pacing effort of the day was turned in by Sportskeeper (Jim Morrill Jr.) who went gate to wire in the $9,000 Trackmaster 78 class.

Morrill left from post five with Sportskeeper and grabbed the lead before the :27.4 quarter. Then once he settled on the point, the pair dominated the field. Operating with a gapped advantage, Sportskeeper went :56.2 to the half and 1:25.1 to three-quarters with only Pet Sur-rock (Kyle Cummings) staying remotely close. When he turned for home, Sportskeeper was clear, under a line drive from Morrill and willingly paced away to a 2-1/2 length decision in 1:55.2.

It was the second straight win for Sportskeeper ($3.70) at Batavia and the purse pushed his lifetime earnings over the $600,000 mark, as he now boasts $603,847 in bank. The classy 11-year-old gelded son of Sportswriter-Keeper Flying is owned by Mike Torcello and trained by Sammy Smith.

The top trot came in the $9,000 Trackmaster 77 leg where Sanchez Rocks (Kyle Cummings) made a move past the half pay off with an impressive victory.

Pilgrim Caviar (Shawn Gray) led early and tripped the timer in a quick :28.4 before heading into turn two. But at the same time, Good Boy (Ray Fisher Jr.) brushed and crushed to the front and completed the first circuit in :59.4. It was at that point that Sanchez Rocks vacated the pylons from fourth and started trotting up a storm. Sanchez Rocks drew even with Good Boy on the backside, cleared at three-quarters and then extended his lead with every stride from there. By the top of the stretch, he was long gone and trotted home under no urging at all to win by 2-3/4 lengths in 2:00.2.

Sanchez Rocks ($5.80) is owned by Marie Houghtaling and trained by Ron Houghtaling.

The finals for the Pop-Up series races will be held on Monday (Feb. 20) and offer purses ranging from $12,000 to $18,000. Consolation races will also be offered and will go for $7,000 to $10,000 each. Spots in both will be secured by the top money earners in each Trackmaster category.

Jim Morrill Jr. and Keith Kash Jr. both had driving hat tricks on Monday, while trainers Joe Skowyra and Andy Torre scored two wins apiece.

Morrill is now only four wins away from 8,000 career victories, a number he should hit within the next week at Batavia. 

There will be two carryovers and a guaranteed pool when live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Thursday (Jan. 26) at 3 p.m. First, there is a $4,741 carryover in the Pick-5 (which starts in race one), and Batavia Downs has announced that pool will have a $10,000 guarantee through the United States Trotting Association’s Strategic Wagering Program. Complete program pages for those five races will be available on the USTA’s website under the “Handicapping” tab. Then later in the card there is a growing carryover of $1,322 in the Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta, which will be available in the 11th race.

Free full card past performance forms for the entire card of live racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at the Downs’ website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing'' tab and all the racing action can be viewed as it happens at the Batavia Downs Live Facebook page. 

Batavia's Alpine Ski Team competed at Wheels Run at Swain over the weekend, with two girls team members notching five-place finishes.

On a cloudy day with no wind and temperatures just above freezing, Lily Wagner had the best individual results, finishing 17th in the afternoon slalom.

To view race photos, click here. To view team photos, click here. Photos by Steve Ognibene. Top photo: Ethan Bradley

Lily Wagner

Gunner Pietrzykowski

Ben Stone

Abby Bestine

Quinn Woeller

Harris Busmire of Bergen picked up another honor score this week when he posted a 300 game at his hometown Rose Garden Bowl.

The 58-year-old right-hander turned an otherwise pedestrian night into one to remember when he finished with the perfect game on lanes 7-8 in the Wednesday Men's Handicap League. His other games were 233 and 166.

On Dec. 15, Busmire posted an 813 series in the Thursday Owls League at Rose Garden Bowl.

At Oak Orchard Bowl in Albion, Curtis Foss of Medina registered his fourth 800 series in the Genesee Region USBC this season -- spinning 268-258-275--801 in the Sneezy's Monday Night League.

At Medina Lanes, Scott Allis of Medina fired a pair of 279 games in a 791 series in the Sunday Rolloffs League -- four days after a 277--772 in the Wednesday Community League.

At Mancuso Bowling Center, Gary MacDonald of Batavia rolled a 297 game in the County Line Stone Friday Trios League.

For a list of high scores for the week, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of the home page.

Notre Dame improved to 11-1 on the season in Girls Basketball on Saturday with a 58-24 win over Williamson.

Amelia McCulley scored 26 points and had eight rebounds and six steals.

Emma Sisson scored 11 points. Sisson had six assists. Avelin Tomidy scored nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds.  She had four steals.

Also, in Girls Basketball on Friday:

• Avon beat Le Roy, 43-39. Lindsey Steffenilla scored 14 points and had eight rebounds. Corina Dunn scored 13 points.
• Pavilion beat Keshequa, 59-49. Karlee Zinkievich scored 24 points and had five assists. Lauren Kingsley scored 21 points and had 14 rebounds. Kyle Conway scored 12 points.

Also, in Boys Basketball on Friday

• Batavia beat Odyessy, 69-44 to improve to 10-2. Carter McFollins scored 25 points. Sawyer Siverling scored 11 points. Mikey McKenzie scored 10 points. Estavon Lovett scored eight points. (Batavia also played a game on Saturday and those results are not yet available).
• Perry beat Alexander 40-45. 
• Oakfield-Alabama beat Byron-Bergen, 67-63. 
• Elba beat Holley, 74-45. 
• Notre Dame beat Attica, 81-65

UPDATE: Batavia beat East Aurora on Saturday, 53-53. Carter McFollins and Rasheed Christie each scored 12 points. Sawyer Siverling scored 10 and Mikey McKenzie scored nine.

Press release:

The­­­ Pembroke Jr./Sr. High School Girls’ Basketball Team will host its 12th annual Shooting For A Cure! event versus Oakfield-Alabama on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. at the high school gym located at the corner of Routes 5 and 77 (8717 Alleghany Road) in Pembroke, New York. Admission is free. The team asks that attendees make a donation of any amount as they enter the facility, and all donations go to Roswell Park to support research efforts. In addition to donations at the door, all proceeds from raffle tickets, concession sales, and apparel sales go directly to Roswell Park. To date, Shooting For A Cure! has raised over $227,000 and has remains Roswell Park’s largest independent, community-based fundraising event.

The event began over a decade ago when the team approached then head coach Mike Wilson with an idea; they wanted to show their support for Toni Funke, wife of former coach and Pembroke teacher Ron Funke, in her battle against breast cancer by hosting a game in her honor which would bring the community together to raise awareness and funds for cancer research at Roswell Park. This season, the team hopes to add to the more than $227,000 the event has generated and donated since 2011 by continuing this benevolent Pembroke tradition.

Direct online donations are now being accepted in support of this year’s Shooting For A Cure! game at: http://give.roswellpark.org/goto/shooting-for-a-cure-12. In addition, the team is seeking donations from the community in the form of items to include in various raffles.  Food and beverages, provided by local vendors and restaurants, will be for sale during the event.  All of the proceeds will benefit cancer research at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.  The 2022-2023 Shooting For A Cure! donors list already contains many businesses and organizations, including 26Shirts, ADPRO Sports, Billy The Kid Automotive, the Buffalo Bills, the Buffalo Sabres, Dry Creek Group, Five Guys, the Genesee County YMCA, Hershey's Ice Cream, Homeslice 33 Pizzeria, Jimbo’s Construction, Knockaround Sunglasses, Linda's Family Diner, M&T Bank, Mighty Taco, New Era, Original Pizza Logs, Oxford Pennant, Pesci's Pizza, Roswell Park Alliance Foundation, Salsarita’s, Salvatore’s, Sincerely Kayla, Terry Hills, The Pink Cow, and Tim Horton's.

There will be several other ways to support the cause this year. Currently, the team has partnered with 26Shirts from Buffalo, a local company that designs and sells apparel items to benefit those in need. To date, 26Shirts has raised $1,694,965 for local families, foundations, and organizations. All proceeds from this apparel sale will directly benefit cancer research at Roswell Park. If you’re interested in limited edition, 12th annual Shooting For A Cure! gear, please visit: https://26shirts.com/collections/shooting-for-a-cure.

In addition to the apparel sale, Can Jam Redemption Center in Corfu has partnered with Shooting For A Cure! From today, up through February 3rd, you can donate your bottle and can return slips in support of cancer research at Roswell Park. When you bring in your returns, just let them know that you’d like to donate your slip to our Shooting For A Cure! mission.

Businesses and organizations wishing to make a donation for this year’s event should contact Mike Wilson, the Shooting For A Cure! coordinator at Pembroke, by calling (716) 949-0523.

Behind another big game for Sydney Reilly, who scored 28 points, Elba picked up its second straight win in Girls Basketball, beating Pembroke 63-41.

Reilly had six rebounds and four assists.

Haile Scouten scored 13 points and six rebounds along with five blocked shots.

Lydia Ross scored nine and had six steals.

Kennedy Augello scored eight points, had five rebounds, and four assists.

Isabel Breeden scored 20 points for Pembroke. Ellie Peterson scored six points.

 “The girls are really starting to buy into our defensive end of the floor, which helps our offense," said Elba's coach, Charlie Pangrazio. "Early in the season, we got a little lackadaisical on that.  These last two games tonight and versus Kendall, we really brought that together, our defense has really taken off."

Elba is now 4-7, and after its fourth-straight loss, Pembroke is 4-9.

Also, in Girls Basketball on Tuesday:

• Notre Dame beat Kendall, 59-15. Amelia McCulley scored 33 points, 11 rebounds and six steals. Avelin Tomidy scored 10 points, and Emma Sisson scored seven and had 11 steals. The Irish are now 10-1 on the season.
• Alexander improved to 10-4 with a 36-26 win over Byron-Bergen. For the Trojans, Alyssa Kramer scored 17 points.
• Oakfield-Alabama beat Batavia, 44-27. O-A is 11-1.  Batavia is 0-12.

In Boys Basketball:

• Batavia beat Livonia, 64-48. Carter McFollins scored 20 points, Sawyer Siverling, 16, and Mikey McKenzie, 10. Siverling hit four three-point buckets. The Blue Devils are 9-2.
• Le Roy beat Pavilion, 66-36.  Merritt Holly, Jr. scored 20 points.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

Alexander Gage Wagner, a senior, notched his 100th in and took first place this weekend the Second Annual Robert Bradshaw Memorial Tournament in Canandaigua.

Wagner wrestled in the 152-pound weight class.

Submitted photos and information.

Press release:

Batavian Geoff Harloff led a high scoring night that featured six 700-plus series in the County Line Friday Trios League at Mancuso Bowling Center.

The right-hander rolled games of 249, 289 and 256 for a 794 series. The big set was Harloff's second 700 in as many nights as he posted a 701 in the Toyota of Batavia 4-Man League on Thursday.

Other 700 shooters in the Friday league were Scott Shields, 288--738; Chase Cone, 276--728; Matt Balduf, 266--727; Brian Green, 718, and Tom McJury, 267--710.

In the Toyota league, lefty Rich Wagner started with a 290 game en route to a 772 series to lead the way. Fred Gravanda was next with 268--736.

In the Meyer's RV Monday Night NFL League at Mancuso's, Mike Battaglia had the hot hand with games of 264 and 257 in a 732 series.

In Sunday Rolloffs action at Medina Lanes last week, Shannon Parker put together 12 consecutive strikes for his fifth United States Bowling Congress-certified 300 game.

For a list of high scores for the week, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of the home page.

Merritt Holly Jr.'s 24 points wasn't enough for Le Roy to overcome Geneseo in Boys Basketball on Friday night.

The Knights lost 57-44.

Photos by Jason Coniber.

Five of Batavia's players hit double-digits in scoring as the Blue Devils beat Greece Olympia 88-39 on Friday.

Carter McFollins scored 16 points, Carter Mullen 14, Sawyer Siverling 13, Ja'vin McFollins 12, and Aiden Bellavia 11. Adding on, Rashaad Christie scored eight points and Mike McKenzie scored six.

Batavia improves to 8-2 on the season.

Also, in Boys Basketball on Friday:

• Pavilion beat Cal-Mum 56-36
• Le Roy lost to Geneseo, 57-44

In Girls Basketball:

• Elba beat Kendall, 47-12. Sydney Reilly scored 17 points and had 12 rebounds. Haille Scouten scored five points and had 15 rebounds, Kennedy Augello scored nine points and had four assists.
• Notre Dame beat Alexander, 48-28. Amelia McCulley scored 26 points. 
• Byron-Bergen beat Attica, 52-25
• Oakfield-Alabama beat Lyndonville, 49-40
• Arcadia beat Batavia 44-34
• Geneseo beat Le Roy, 50-37
• Wheatland beat Pembroke, 38-36

Blue Devils' next game is away at Livonia High School Tuesday, at 7 p.m.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

Notre Dame improved to 8-1 on the season in Girls Basketball with a 47-32 win over Holley.

Amelia McCulley scored 20 points for the Fighting Irish, hitting two three-pointers along the way, and coming up with five rebounds, two blocks and three steals.

Avelin Tomidy scored eight points and had six rebounds. Emma Sisson scored seven points and had five rebounds.

Also in Girls Basketball on Wednesday:

• Alexander beat Elba 58-53. Alyssa Kramer scored 32 points for Alexander. Laurel Kania scored 13, and Melanie Pohl scored 10.  No stats reported for Elba.
• Byron-Bergen beat Pembroke 52-40. Kendall Phillips scored 19 points for the Bees. Karli Houseknecht scored 11 points for the Dragons.

In Boys Basketball:

• Batavia beat Vertus 74-71. The Blue Devils improved to 7-2 on the season. Ja'Vin McFollins scored 19 points for Batavia. Carter McFollins scored 17. Aiden Bellavia scored 15. 
• Le Roy beat Letchworth 67-49. Merritt Holly, Jr. scored 26 points for the Knights.
• Pavilion lost to Mount Morris, 67-52.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

Press release from Genesee Region USBC:

Scott Culp of Honeoye Falls successfully climbed the stepladder finals consisting of five former champions to claim the 69th Genesee Region USBC Scratch Memorial Tournament title on Sunday at Mancuso Bowling Center.

The high-revving 44-year-old right-hander, who won the event in 2017, 2018 and 2020, saved his best for last -- rolling a 279 game to defeat Matt Slocum of Perry, who posted 204. Slocum won the tournament in 2007.

The victory was worth $700 for Culp, who has been one of the area's finest league and tournament bowlers for the past two decades. Slocum, who has returned to action this season after suffering a collapsed bicep muscle in his right arm, earned $350.

Culp, qualified in the fourth position for the stepladder finals, and proceeded to defeat Jake Rosenbeck of Medina, 198-190; No. 3 seed Adam Philp of Le Roy, 222-195, and No. 2 seed Kevin Gray Jr. of Warsaw, 245-180, before facing Slocum.

Culp said he didn't think he'd get past the first game of the stepladder finals due to a sore arm.

"My arm started bothering me in the first match, so I backed off a bit -- (releasing it) easier at the bottom," he said. "Bowling on the same pair for the finals, I was able to get lined up and that made it tough for the guys coming in."

He said he used the Storm IQ Tour for most of the tournament -- ending with that ball and the Roto Grip Hyper Solid Pearl in the title match.

Slocum, another powerful righty, said he was happy to be in top form after suffering the injury in the same tournament last year.

"I was able to line up in practice and used the same ball throughout -- the Roto Grip Hectic. Slocum posted a 933 score for the four-game semifinals, edging Gray Jr. by 13 pins for the top seed.

Gray Jr., the 2016 and 2019 champion, won $240, while Philp, who won in 2011, earned $200, and Rosenbeck, the 2021 champion, pocketted $180.

Gray earned an additional $25 for being the overall high qualifier with 1,000 for his four games. Rosenbeck fired 277 in his fourth semifinal game to jump into the finals.

The tournament -- which was contested on a special "Challenge" oil pattern designed by Kegel -- drew 74 entrants over three qualifying squads (two on Saturday and one on Sunday morning). The GRUSBC added $300 to the prize fund.

The top 17 bowlers after qualifying bowled four more games on Sunday afternoon to determine the five finalists.

Medina's Curtis Foss placed sixth, Batavia's Mike Pettinella was seventh and Le Roy's John Lowe was eighth. All won $160.

In ninth through 12th place, each earning $135, were Dave DiSalvo of Mount Morris, Brian Green of Batavia, Aaron Philp of Le Roy and defending champion Devon Leach of Batavia.

In 13th through 17th place were Nick Johnson of Bergen, Hayden Allis of Medina, Dennis Van Duser of Perry, Brady Weber of Perry and Jim Pursel of Batavia. They each won $120.

Aaron Philp had the tournament's high game -- his first USBC-certified 300 game during the opening qualifying round.

For a complete list of the tournament scores, go to www.bowlgr.com.

It was a good day for harness racing at Batavia Downs on Monday. It was cold.  But it was good.

Don Hoover, director of live racing, said that while patrons mostly huddled inside during the races, the turnout for the first night of winter racing at the Downs, in many decades, was strong.

"If you compare this to like Wednesday nights during the season, or regular racing, we have more people here than a typical Wednesday and people seem to be enjoying it," Hoover said.

And they were betting.

"We're only through eight races (at the time of the interview with The Batavian), but the handle looks good," Hoover said. "I'm being optimistic right now because we still have races to go, but our total handle today could surpass any day of last year. It's possible, but it'll definitely be in the top five."

Hoover's prediction proved correct. Total wagers on for the evening were $257,510. That total was over $20,000 higher than any race card of 2022 and the best overall handle at Batavia Downs since 2019 when betting topped $339,000 during the New York Sire Stakes Night of Champions.

The winter meet came about, he said, because the Western New York Harness Horseman's Association came to Batavia Downs and said the Buffalo Raceway said it wasn't going to hold winter meets any longer. 

"They had a raft of cancellations (due to weather) last year," Hoover said.

After some negotiations, Batavia Downs agreed to host two race events each week in January and February. Assuming drivers and trainers can get to the track on a winter's day, Hoover said he thinks Batavia Downs is well-positioned to host the planned events.

"We have a great track crew," Hoover said."We bought some new equipment. We have a different starting gate if needed. So we're hoping that the preventative measures we've taken will overcome the weather unless, you know, if we have blizzard conditions, nothing can overcome a blizzard."

While Batavia has a bit of an advantage over Buffalo in terms of storm impacts, being further from Lake Erie, many of the race participants have to travel from or through the area to get to Batavia.  That could have an impact on races.

"The first time we canceled in November, we were fine here, but the problem was there was a travel ban," Hoover said. "Many of the horsemen come from the Hamburg area, and there would have been no way for them to get here. Kevin Cummings, Jim Morrill, other drivers are coming from that area, so they couldn't get here. So even though we're not Buffalo, and we think the track will be in better shape, because we won't have as extreme weather, we also have to factor in, 'can the participants get here safely?'"

The 15-day session will run through Feb. 27 and operate on a Monday and Thursday schedule. Post time for each race day is set at 3 p.m. 

Hoover is optimistic this winter meet won't be a one-and-done experiment.

"We have to see how it goes and see if it's worthwhile doing it again," Hoover said. "I mean, we're committed for this year, and then we'll, at the end of February, we'll take a look at it and see how it worked out. But if you were going to ask me today how it's working out, I'd say it's working out great."

See also: Stalbaum steals the show in Batavia Downs winter opener

Photos by Howard Owens. 

Bad to the Bone, winner in the eighth.