by Darin Gagne, for Running Aces

Columbus, MN — The Tuesday night (Aug. 7) card at Running Aces featured the $11,000 Mares Open Handicap Pace and Gold Star Mysti was the headliner in the field after a four-race stint racing against the boys in the very tough Dan Patch FFA series and in Open winners-over company.

She finally returned to the weekly distaff feature to re-claim her crown as top Open mare at the track. Sent off as the 3-5 public choice, she did not disappoint her backers.

Driver James Yoder got her away quickly from post two into the pocket behind a fast starting Delightfully Wild (Lemoyne Svendsen), before sweeping to the front just past the :28.2 quarter. After establishing the lead, Gold Star Mysti looked comfortable and confident throughout. The middle half was a solid :56.2 and Gold Star Mysti kicked home strong in :27.4 to keep the field at bay, posting a solid win by three-quarters of a length over Kiss On The Lips (Dean Magee) who closed well for second, and Delightfully Wild held a game third in the 1:52.3 mile.

Gold Star Mysti ($3.20) is a 5-year-old by Mysticism out of the Pacific Fella mare Just Wait Fellas. She is owned by Gold Star Farm and trained by Margaret Audley and now has 15 career wins and $109,216 on her card.

The $9,000 2-year-old Open Pace went to Mystical View (James Yoder), a half-sister to Gold Star Mysti, who is now undefeated in two career starts after an impressive win in 1:58.1, also for Gold Star Farm and trainer Margaret Audley. After getting away fourth in the seven-horse contest, Mystical View ($4.60) made a sweeping move to the lead and drew clear from her rivals at every checkpoint, posting an impressive final quarter of :28.2 and a solid three length tally.

The $14,000 Minnesota-sired 2-year-old pacing event went to Windmeupnwatchmego (Dean Magee) for her second straight win and third win in four lifetime starts. The impressive filly by Wind Me Up turned in a gate-to-wire effort, impressively seating her top rival Burning Blaze (Rick Magee) into the pocket from the start, and fending off a late challenge from Burning Blaze at the wire. In an exciting stretch battle, the filly prevailed by a neck with a fast final quarter of :27.1 to stop the timer at 1:56.1. Windmeupnwatchmego ($3.20) is owned by Richard Davelaar and trained by Gordon Graham.

The $14,000 Minnesota-sired 2-year-old trotting event went to MD Magic for his second straight win, lowering his mark to 2:02 with Dean Magee in the sulky for Set The Pace Racing, LLC and trainer Nick Roland. MD Magic ($5.40) posted a dominating effort to win by 3-1/2 lengths over Dewey’s Machine (Steve Wiseman). The impressive son of Braggart now has three wins in four lifetime starts.

Drivers Dean Magee and James Yoder both completed the grand slam on the night, with four wins each.

Live racing returns to Running Aces on Saturday night (Aug. 11) with a first post of 6 p.m. (CDT) and a couple of nice carryovers: $10,981.13 in the Pick-5 Jackpot and $2,780.43 in the 50-cent Hi-5 wager.