by Darin Gagne, Running Aces track announcer

Columbus, MN — The Sunday (May 22) card at Running Aces featured some very competitive racing, including a very talented field for the $11,000 featured Open pace for horses and geldings.

The big favorite S F Donttellonme was all the buzz coming into the race and he did not disappoint on Sunday night.

He got away leisurely from the gate and was fourth at the :28.4 quarter, but he quickly swept to the lead just before the three-eighths marker and led the rest of the way home through remaining fractions of :57, 1:26.1 and 1:53.3, storming home in :27.2 to win by a solid 2-1/2 lengths. He paid $2.60 to his many backers. A couple of longshots completed the feature race result with Bettor In The Bank (Dean Magee) second and Jazzmanian Devil (Lemoyne Svendsen) third.

The very sharp 6-year-old gelding is a real rags-to riches story, having showed lots of promise as a 2-year-old before facing injuries at ages two and three. Owner/trainer/driver Joe Casagranda said he “picked the horse up for a couple thousand bucks” and spent a lot of time trying to fix the horse’s problems, even seeking an offer from an Amish horse buyer.

“The guy didn’t offer me enough money for the horse,” quipped Casagranda, so he continued to work with the horse. “He just wouldn’t pace — he just kept making breaks.”

Casagranda figured out the horse’s problems and got him on the right track in his 4-year-old campaign, but it was as a 5-year-old that he really blossomed, and he has done very well for Joe and Kristy Casagranda. He earned $73,565 at age 5, and $22,384 already as a 6-year-old in 2016, for a lifetime bankroll of $120,635.

Newcomer to Running Aces this season, driver Jim Marino posted a back-to-back double on the Sunday night card, scoring in race two with Back Stock (1:55.2) for trainer Justin Currie and owner Paul Sanders and taking the 7-year-old mare Free Girl gate-to-wire in 1:54.3 for owner Ron Rettig-Zucchi and trainer Jessie Pacheco in the third race.

Marino is quickly approaching the 2,000 win plateau, as the double pushed his lifetime tally to 1,989.