Columbus, MN – The featured event on the Thursday night (June 5) harness racing program at Running Aces was the $14,750 Mares Open Handicap Pace and it offered a very talented field of nine who provided fans with a thrilling contest.
Twist Little Girl N (Bryan Quevedo) blasted off the gate from post seven as did Majors Miracle (Dean Magee) from post five and those two traded blows through a fast :26.2 opening stanza.
Twist Little Girl N settled on top near the three-eighths pole and Majors Miracle was relegated to the pocket as Crazy Cute (Mooney Svendsen) traveled third. Better Watch It (Rick Magee) came first-up at the :54.1 half-mile checkpoint and Southern Sugar (Gerald Longo) and Fillister Photo (Billy Man) followed cover.
Twist Little Girl N still had the advantage as they clicked off three panels in 1:22.2 while Kele Kele (Brady Jenson) made a three-wide bid from mid pack.
In the lane Twist Little Girl N came under attack from all sides as Majors Miracle charged from the pocket and Crazy Cute dived inside.
Crazy Cute ($60.80) was fastest to the wire, getting home three-quarters of a length ahead of Majors Miracle while Fillister Photo rallied late to edge out Twist Little Girl N for the show spot. The timer flashed 1:51 for a final time, which equaled the track record for older pacing mares.
The winner, who had been dismissed by the public at 29-1, is a 9-year-old daughter of Art Major. She now shows four wins this season and 32 career wins for owners Stephen Chambers and Kathie Plested, who also trains.
Linked To Chaos (Easy Again) posted a career best gate-to-wire effort to capture the $17,000 Minnesota-sired sophomore fillies ‘A’ pace in 1:57.
Driver Brian Detgen sent her away quickly from post one and they secured the lead with a quick :27.2 opening panel and led comfortably throughout, holding firm in the lane over Skooch’s Valentine (Jessie Pacheco) and Karpathian Queen (Chad Svendsen).
Linked To Chaos ($24.20) is owned by her breeder Jay DeLong and is trained by Justin Anfinson.
The other Minnesota-sired events went to Blazin For Life (Brady Jenson, $11.60) in 1:55.3 for two in a row in the $17,000 colts ‘A’ division, and High Country Baby (Luke Plano, $4.00) in 1:57.3 in the $8,500 mixed ‘B’ division.
Brian Detgen led all drivers on Thursday with three wins while both trainers Maria Alvarez and Justin Anfinson each had three winners and driver Dean Magee posted a double.
Live racing returns to Running Aces on Sunday night (June 8) for a 12-race program that will get underway at 6 p.m. (CDT).