by Darin Gagne, Running Aces Track Announcer

COLUMBUS, MN — Running Aces completed its first session of 10 qualifying races on Saturday (May 13).

Best among the standout performances came from track record holder Chewy Baca (Nick Roland) who posted the fastest mile of the day (1:56) for new owner Jessica Johnson. Chewy Baca floated out of the gate from post one to sit third before shaking free at the top of the stretch and rallied past pacesetter Best of Jenna (Rick Magee) to post a three-quarter length win with a :27.4 final quarter.

A state champion Chewy Baca, has been a top-level pacer here at Running Aces every year of his career and is trained by Justin Anfinson.

Another eye-opening effort came from 3-year-old pacing filly Freedom Belle who dominated a field of sophomore pacing distaffers with a gate-to-wire score in 1:59.2 for trainer/driver Brady Jenson and owners Larry Jo and Nancy Jenson. Freedom Belle seems to have come back a different filly in 2017 and should be one to watch for in Minnesota sired races this season.

Tap My Feet (Rick Magee) posted a big closing effort to draw away and win in 2:04.4 for Magee, who also trains, and owner Mikaela Delgiudice in the 3-year-old trot, it was a dominating win for Tap My Feet who looked fantastic and trotted home in :29.0.

The Dr. Ken Rucker and Janna Lee Rucker Stable also had several sharp winning efforts today with Dupage’s Z Tam (Rick Magee) up to score by a head in 1:57.3 and Easy Again (Rick Magee) with a big closing kick to score in 1:58.3, posting the fastest final quarter-mile of the day (:27.3)

Also in action today was track record holder Banker Volo (Mark Mintun) who looked very comfortable in his gate-to-wire romp in 2:00.2 with a :29.1 final kick. Banker Volo was absolutely dominant today with a 6-1/4 length tally. He dominated the open trot ranks here in 2016,and looks poised to be a force to reckon with again this season.

Perennial driving champion Nick Roland picked up four qualifying wins on the day, with Rick Magee nabbing three wins. From 69 starters on the card 66 horses were qualified to race. The next session of qualifying races will be held on Tuesday (May 16) at 5:30 p.m. with entries closing on Monday (May 15) at 10 a.m.

Opening night for the 2017 live racing season is next Saturday night (May 20) at 6 p.m.

Reminder: Nominating fees are due on Monday (May 15) 2017 for late closing events #2 through #6.