Finger Lakes concludes 45th season

Finger Lakes Racetrack capped off its 45th year of racing on

Saturday, with DEMUS (Suave Prospect) taking the feature in wire-to-wire fashion

for trainer Chris Englehart. Piloted by John Davila Jr., the five-year-old mare

finished off six furlongs in 1:13 over the muddy track to earn her 14th lifetime tally.

Engelhart broke his own record for victories at a meet when saddling 141

winners, more than enough to give him his fourth straight and sixth overall

trainer title. The conditioner established the original mark in 2004 when sending 136 runners

to the winners circle, and became just the second trainer in Finger Lakes'

history to have more than 100 wins in a single season. Charlton Baker and Michael Lecesse tied for the runner-up

spot with 77 wins apiece.

The four-year-old gelding JOHNIE BYE NIGHT (Langfuhr), trained by Baker, was

named top horse for the meeting after setting new records in all three of

his stakes wins, the George W. Barker H., Wadsworth Memorial H. and Leon Reed

Memorial H.

On the jockey front, Davila claimed his fifth consecutive title, and

seventh overall, by booting home 201 winners. The 43-year-old Juncos, Puerto

Rico, native also made history with a record tying six victories on November 21.

Out of Davila Jr.'s 201 tallies, 125 were sent out by Englehart.

Paul Nicol Jr. rebounded from an injury plagued 2005 by finishing second in

wins this year with 134. The 45-year-old from Annapolis, Maryland, reached the

3,000th win plateau on June 27, joining Leslie Hulet and Kevin Whitley as the only

Finger Lakes riders to accomplish that feat.

Conditioner Dan Conway was named as the 16th inductee into the Finger Lakes

Hall of Fame. Conway began his career in 1963, and won the trainers' title three

times during the 1960's.

The 2007 live racing season at Finger Lakes will resume in mid-April, at a

date to be determined.