Columbus, MN — Driver Rick Magee is no stranger to the Running Aces winner’s circle and in fact no stranger to significant success at Minnesota’s harness racing showplace.
Magee (47) is a native of neighboring Wisconsin and has been a mainstay at Running Aces since the track opened in 2008, in fact he has multiple seasonal titles to his credit, as both a driver and a trainer. Rick is also the only driver that won at least 40 races each and every season at Running Aces for the first sixteen straight years.
So to see him notching wins and racking up top-three finishes is no real surprise, but the dominance we have seen so far this Minnesota racing season is definitely eye-catching.
Magee posted hat-tricks on each of the first two programs of the Aces meet and has also completed the exacta another six times, and when you add a third place finish into the mix, he shows thirteen top-three finishes from seventeen outings so far, winning at over 35 percent and hitting the trifecta ticket at over 76 percent while sporting a hefty (.509) UDRS rating at Running Aces so far.
Now, add to the mix his 11 wins, two seconds and one third place finish from seventeen starts at the two Minnesota Harness Racing Inc. sponsored spring fair dates at Cannon Falls, and his overall UDRS rating for 2025 so far swells to a whopping (.680).
Magee will try to add to his impressive season totals on Sunday night (May 25), He will be in action in nine of the ten dashes on the program and will be piloting the morning line favorites in the first two contests of the night, including sophomore filly trotter Attraente (Gimpanzee) in race one, who will be making her season debut for trainer Elson Miller, she won two of four races last year and will try to make a big impression in the opening round of the Banker Volo series.
In race two, Magee will pilot Dreamendlessly (Pet Rock) again for trainer Miller, this four-year-old gelding makes his first local start and comes in showing back-to-back thirds at Northfield Park. He will also steer the morning line choice Overtheedgeofhonor (Western Trademark) who is looking for his first win of the season in race ten for trainer Greg Budach.
The Sunday program gets underway at 6 p.m. (CDT) and will be highlighted by the $14,750 Open Handicap Trot where morning line choice Escaper (Billy Mann, 2-1) will try to make it two in a row for trainer Maria Alvarez. Last week the 4-year-old son of Muscle Hill converted a pocket trip into a 2-1/4 length tally in 1:56.3, this week he will be operating from the outside post in the six horse affair.
In addition to the great lineup of races, Sunday’s festivities will also include ‘Pepsi Family Night’ specials and kid’s activities, a Memorial Day tee-shirt giveaway, trout fishing, food trucks, sole survivor contest and a special holiday weekend visit from ‘The Handicapping Herpetologist’ Keith Gisser who will have his reptiles on display trackside.
On the wagering side, remember that the 50-cent late pick-4 is guaranteed at $3,000 every night at Running Aces. Free past-performance race pages are available on the USTA website under the ‘Strategic Wagering’ tab.