UNY-USHWA, Batavia Downs honoring 14-year-olds

The Upstate New York Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association and Batavia Downs will honor three 14-year-old veteran harness racing horses who will officially retire on January 1, 2023. They will be presented with a trophy commemorating their outstanding careers in the winner's circle between races on Saturday, December 17. Post time for the first race is 3 p.m.

Freaky Flyer has been a fixture at Batavia Downs for the last nine years. He has won 10 races this year, four of which were at the Downs. FreakyFlyer is retired and lives with his new owners in Avon, New York.

Bettor’s Reward won 267-43-30-32-1:51.3 at Batavia Downs. Bettor's Reward made his first pari-mutuel start at the Downs on September 28, 2010. He won his maiden race there in 2:03.1. After having success in the New York Sire Stakes at three, Bettors Delight-Romancing The Sea went on to become a hard-knocking Open class aged pacer in Canada and on the NY/New Jersey circuit. Unfortunately, he suffered from soundness issues from 2014 to 2018 and only made 14 starts during that time. In 2019 he came back strong and raced 147 starts his final four years and closed out his career with six wins in 2022.

Parkhill Horton retired after 13 years of racing. He won $198,454 and made $27,508 this year. His final start will be on Wednesday, December 14. The final card of the racing on Saturday (Dec.17) has been moved from 6 p.m. to 3 p., so that fans of both harness racing and the Buffalo Bills can come to the final race.