by Darin Gagne, Running Aces track announcer

Columbus, MN — One of the featured events on the Wednesday night (Aug. 4) card at Running Aces was the $11,000 Fillies & Mares Open Trot and it would be the 3-year-old filly My Little Susie (Claudius Augustus) who would re-write the record books in the contest with her 1:56.4 victory over older mares.

Dee Leftwich photo

My Little Susie scored in a track record time of 1:56.4.

Heavily favored in the wagering, My Little Susie was away unhurried early in the mile as several others vied for the early positions. Trainer/driver Steve Wiseman was content to steer his filly over to the pylons in fifth early and let the race set up. They waited patiently through the fractions of :28.4 and :59.3 before making a sweeping move to the lead at the three-quarter pole in 1:28.2. From there she stormed home in :28.2 and was never in doubt. Flashy Lady (Tim Maier) was second in the mile and Trot Fudge Sundae (another Aces record holder) was third with Rick Magee in the bike. My Little Susie is owned by A Piece of The Action, LLC. She paid $2.40 at the windows.

The other featured event was the $15,000 Minnesota-sired 2-year-old trot and it was another filly, Silent Dreams (2:04.2), who recorded another impressive win over the boys with Dean Magee in the sulky. In fact, the two fillies in the field dominated the proceedings for the second consecutive week with Imapixieatmidnight (Nick Roland) setting the fractions and Silent Dreams trotting by in the stretch to win by two lengths, which is exactly what happened last week as well. This was the fourth win in just five lifetime starts for Silent Dreams, owned by Glen and Jody Wilson. She has now earned $31,400 and she paid just $2.10 as the heavy favorite in the field.

Another impressive performance among many this night was MJ’s Last Dance ($7.60), an 8-year-old mare by Electric Yankee who posted her 24th lifetime win with trainer Luke Plano in the sulky, establishing a new lifetime mark of 1:53.1 in the process. This talented mare was sharp off the gate from the rail position in the six-horse field and dominated the proceedings with fractions of :28.3, :57.1 and 1:25 before sprinting home in :28.1 and leaving her rivals behind. She was never in doubt and cruised to the wire with a 1-1/4 length tally. She now sports $186,782 in career purse earnings for owners Christopher Schick and Mary Ann Plano. She was named as a tribute to the late Michael Jackson by her breeder, Virginia Schick.

Driver Steve Wiseman had another big night, posting a hat trick on the card.

The next card of live harness racing action will go to post on Saturday (Aug. 6) at 6 p.m. (CDT).