Columbus, MN – The Sunday night (Aug. 31) harness racing program at Running Aces featured a $17,000 Open Handicap Trot event with a field of six talented competitors.
Bringoverthemoney (Dean Magee) was fastest off the car for the first call but Escaper (Billy Mann) wasted no time in getting rolling from the outside post and surged to the front near the opening eighth of a mile.
Escaper posted a quick :27.1 opening stanza while Bringoverthemoney rode in the pocket and Baby Flash (Mooney Svendsen) traveled along in third.
Greentea (Brady Jenson) tried a first-over bid near the :57.2 half mile point and was looming from third on the outside down the backstretch with Chiplosive (Williams Hernandez) following his cover.
Escaper began to increase his speed around the final turn and registered the three-quarters in 1:26.1 while Bringoverthemoney tracked intently and Greentea began to lose steam.
In the lane, Escaper kept going strong while Bringoverthemoney shook free from the pocket and Baby Flash tipped out with trot but Escaper was not to be caught, he got home 1-3/4 lengths ahead for his 10th win of the season while Baby Flash edged past Bringoverthemoney for second in the 1:54.4 mile which was also a new career mark for the winner.
Escaper ($4.40) is a 4-year-old son of Muscle Hill and is owned by Rotiboy4Eva Racing Stable and is trained by Maria Alvarez.
Braggen Bliss (Luke Plano, $3.20) delivered as the favorite to capture the $9,900 sophomore Open trot in a career best 1:57.3 for his third career win.
Plano left alertly with the son of Braggert and then yielded for the pocket trip behind Impressive Landing (Dean Magee). In the lane the top pair engaged in a fierce battle with Braggen Bliss charging inside to prevail by just over a length.
The winner is owned by Ken Stauffer and trained by Nick Roland.
Drivers Luke Plano, Brady Jenson and Rick Magee all had triples on the program while Plano and Edwin Quevedo had training doubles.
Live racing action returns to Running Aces on Tuesday night (Sept. 2) for ‘Dollar Night’s with nine races and a first post at 7 p.m. (CDT).