Columbus, MN — The feature race on the Tuesday night (July 16) program at Running Aces was the $15,500 Open handicap Pace with a field of seven very talented contenders.

Co-track record holder Crooked Smile was the talk of the toteboard and was sent off as the 4-5 public choice while Tuggin On My Heart was the second choice at 5-2 and PD The Big Easy garnered moderate support at 9-2 in the win pool.

Tuggin On My Heart captured his third straight feature race win in a career best clocking of 1:50.3. Nicole Tate photo.

Crooked Smile and driver Todd Warren surged quickly from the gate from post five to grab the early lead before Tuggin On My Heart (Jacob Cutting) came calling for the front near the fast :26.4 opening quarter marker with Sneaky Hill traveling in the third position. Cutting settled Tuggin On My Heart into a nice rhythm on the front and they led comfortably through the middle panels in :55.2 and 1:23.1 while Crooked Smile tracked intently from the pocket and the rest of the field played follow the leader.

In the homestretch Crooked Smile vacated the pocket to come after the leader but Tuggin On My Heart ($7.40) had plenty left in the tank and closed out the mile with a sharp :27.2 final stanza to capture his third straight feature race win in a career best clocking of 1:50.3 which is one of the fastest miles of the Aces meet so far. Crooked Smile was 1-1/2 lengths back in second while it was a further four lengths back to Sneaky Hill in third.

The winner is a 6-year-old son of Rockin Amadeus and is owned by Dave Dobbelmann and Cathy Dessert and is trained by Edwin Quevedo. He now shows 29 career wins and has earnings of $288,760.

Swinging On By (Kartpathian Kid) prevailed in a thrilling battle to the wire in the $17,000 Minnesota-sired freshman male pace in 1:57 for a new career mark and his third straight win for owner/trainer Brett Ballinger and additional owner Darren Taylor.

Driver Dean Magee floated away in third with Swinging On By before activating the pacer to move to the lead before the half; they then led comfortably before being confronted late by Blazin For Life (Rick Magee) in deep stretch. That pair posted an exciting battle in the final sixteenth of a mile with the photo finish going to Swinging On By ($3.60) by a head while Tutto Bene (Cutting) checked in third.

Delco Kathleen (Easy Again) delivered as the heavy favorite in the $17,000 freshman fillies ‘A’ pace with a convincing score from a front-end trip to capture her third career win. She checked home 1-1/2 lengths ahead of Linked To Chaos (Mooney Svendsen) while Skooch’s Valentine was third best in the 1:58 mile. Todd Warren was the winning pilot behind Delco Kathleen ($2.40) for owner/breeder Jay De Long and trainer Justin Anfinson.

International Ice (Ice Machine) dominated the $21,000 freshman ‘A’ trot for his third career win, lowering his career mark to 2:00.4 while posting an 8-3/4 length romp over SHS Southern Pride and Peanutbutterfalcon. Mooney Svendsen was the winning pilot for owners Dave Dobbelmann and Triple Q Stables. The $2 win ticket paid $2.40.

Braggen Bliss (Braggart) dominated the $14,000 freshman ‘B’ trot in 2:04.1 for his first career win, getting home 1-3/4 lengths ahead of Werewolfofwysteria and SHS Miss My Mama. Nick Roland was the winning trainer and driver for Braggen Bliss ($6.80) for owner Set The Pace Racing.

The Minnesota Kid (Karpathian Kid) benefitted from a patient Luke Plano steer and exploded with pace in the homestretch to capture the $8,500 freshman ‘B’ pace to be a debut winner in 2:00. He surged past pacesetter and favorite One Last Booyah to post a 1-1/4 length tally with JK Cache Meoutside home in third. The winner is owned by Robin Clements and is trained by Jose Castillo. The $2 win ticket returned $6.00.

Driver Mooney Svendsen led the Tuesday program with a driving double.

Live racing returns to Running Aces on Thursday night (July 18) for an 11-race program which will feature a carryover of $8,475.79 in the 20-cent Pick-5 Jackpot wager which will start in race seven. First post is set for 6 p.m. (CDT).