UNY USHWA | The Batavian

Billy Davis Jr., James Clouser Jr. top Batavia Downs' horsemen of 2019 meet

By Billie Owens
Dec 13, 2019, 3:25pm

By Tim Bojarski, for UNY USHWA

The Upstate New York Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association (UNY USHWA) has named the top driver and trainer of the 2019 meet at Batavia Downs and will present each with a trophy between races in the Purple Haze Winner’s Circle at Batavia Downs on Saturday night (Dec. 14).

The driver of the meet was Billy Davis Jr. (top photo)

Davis started driving on a regular basis at Batavia Downs in 2016 and finished a strong third last year with 99 wins. This meet Davis started fast, maintained his momentum throughout, demolished the competition and in the end captured his first Batavia Downs driving title.

Davis currently has a total of 127 wins, 48 more than the second place Jim Morrill Jr. who pulled the pin for the year on the first day of November. Those wins along with 101 seconds and 82 thirds out of 621 starts have earned him a Universal Driver Rating (UDR) of .341 for the meet and $839,581 in purses. The earnings total is a new track record for a single meet exceeding the standard of $802,528 set be Jim Morrill Jr. 13 years ago in 2006.

For 2019 in its entirety, the 33-year-old Davis has won 270 races, pocketed $1,846,243 in loot and his UDR of .320 was the best of his career.

The trainer of the meet was James Clouser Jr. (above photo)

Clouser has been conditioning horses at Batavia since 2014 and has twice finished second in the standings in 2015 and 2018. This year Clouser took command early and stayed on top the entire meet to capture his first Batavia Downs training title.

With a strong stable of horses anchored by owners Burke Racing/Weaver Bruscemi and William Emmons, Clouser posted 50 wins, 29 seconds and 37 thirds out of 214 starts for a UTR of .367 and $352,910 in earnings. That income total is the second highest ever recorded at the Downs behind Kim Asher’s $505,624 in 2017.

For the calendar year overall, the also 33-year-old Clouser has won 270 races and $775,359 in purses. He is also nearing his 500^th career training win (currently at 482) and the $3 million earnings plateau.

Batavia Downs and UNY USHWA congratulate both men and all their connections.

(Photos courtesy of Paul White.)

Batavia Daily News, The Batavian named UNY USHWA President’s Award winners

By Billie Owens
Dec 11, 2019, 12:20pm

By Tim Bojarski, for UNY USHWA

In an era where mainstream media habitually overlooks harness racing in their day to day publications, two news outlets in New York State routinely include harness racing news in their sports pages and continue to promote the sport despite their counterparts' failure to do so.

And the coverage given to the action at the track by the Batavia Daily News and The Batavian is why the Upstate New York Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) will be presenting them with the 2019 President’s Award.

The Batavia Daily News is a print newspaper that was founded in 1878 and has been in operation ever since.Their circulation goes well beyond the confines of the City of Batavia and Genesee County, into several surrounding counties and also includes Buffalo and Rochester.

Additionally the paper has a strong online presence (thedailynewsonline.com) to go along with its daily print publication and both cover Batavia and Genesee County in depth.

The Batavian (thebatavian.com) is an online-only news outlet that was launched in 2008. It is the first local, online-only news source for the City of Batavia and Genesee County and has become one of Genesee County's most popular internet news sites and it provides local residents with news and information based mainly around Genesee County.

This outlet has a reputation of showing up at every major event in the city and posting timely firsthand reports and videos.

"Both of these outlets have provided outstanding coverage to harness racing at Batavia Downs over the years but in 2019, gave unprecedented weeklong coverage to the $1.8 million New York Sire Stakes Night of Champions that were held at Batavia Downs and produced record numbers for the track as well as noticeably increased revenue for the city itself that weekend by visiting participants," said Tim Bojarski, president of UNY USHWA.

"They both do an outstanding job for the community in general and the sport in particular. The coverage provided to harness racing by these fine news sources sets a standard that outlets in other cities should well take note of."

The Batavia Daily News and The Batavian will be presented their awards in the Purple Haze Winner’s Circle at Batavia Downs on Saturday night (Dec. 14). Post time for the first race is 6 p.m.

The Batavian -- Video: The Night of Champions at Batavia Downs