from Running Aces

Columbus, MN — A pair of Minnesota-sired sophomore trotting events highlighted the Sunday night (July 28) action at Running Aces.

In the $7,250 division for fillies it was Rails Of Victory (Nick Roland) who managed a mild upset over Diamond Alliance (Lemoyne Svendsen) and Coffee Black (Ryan Lems) in 1:59.1. Roland also owns the daughter of Rail Splitter who notched her fourth seasonal win in ten tries.

The victory for Roland was one of three on the night for the defending local driving champion as he also scored with Lo Hot Pancakes and Headsup Yankee.

Lo Hot Pancakes’ win was a popular one as he is owned by the Bucket List Racing Stable which is comprised of numerous local shareholders who bought affordable minor shares in the first few weeks of the current summer season as part of a Minnesota Harness Racing, Inc. promotional effort. There was a large gathering of jubilant first-time winning owners who greeted their horse in the winner’s circle.

Skeet Thunder (Rick Magee) also pulled a mild upset in the $7,250 split for Minnesota colt and gelding trotters. Jeff Ryan owns and trains the altered son of Sos Lunar Eclipse, who lowered his lifetime mark to 2:00.4 with the victory over Delco Eclipse (Jason Ryan) and Mnia Lightnpower (Tim Maier). The winner now has three 2013 wins in ten tries.

All Minnesota-sired horses are vying for spots this month in the lucrative Minnesota State Championships to be held on August 31, the closing day of the meet. A total of 11 state-bred races are expected with individual purses for each class set at $20,000.

In addition to Nick Roland’s triple, drivers Moonie Svendsen and Rick Magee also doubled on the 10-race program.