Columbus, MN — The Tuesday night (Aug. 6) program at Running Aces featured the $12,700 Open II Handicap Pace with a talented field of eight competitors.
Juju Hanover (Elson Miller) was sent off as the 3-2 favorite while Captain Up (Brad Irvine) took plenty of action at 2-1 and last week’s winner Speaking Volumes (Mooney Svendsen) was sent off as the 7-2 third choice.
Both Zanetti (Dean Magee) and Speaking Volumes fired hard from the outside positions and surged toward the front, with Speaking Volumes making the top before the :26.4 quarter while Zanetti secured the pocket and Juju Hanover got away in third. Svendsen settled the leader into a nice rhythm on the front and stole a :29.1 second quarter breather as the competition followed intently onto the backstretch.
Juju Hanover launched a first-over bid as they headed onto the far turn and applied some pressure to the leader as they reached the three-quarter pole in 1:23.2 while Zanetti remained close in the pocket.
Speaking Volumes ($9.00) continued to pace strong in the lane to post a 1-1/4 length victory in 1:51.4 while Zanetti chased him home with interest and Captain Up weaved through traffic with a huge late rally to grab second on the line over Zanetti.
The winner is a 4-year-old son of Artspeak, owned by Little Bapa and trained by Bob Johnson.
Peanutbutterfalcon (Jeff Hunt, $7.60) picked up his second straight victory with a gate-to-wire score in the $9,000 freshman Open Handicap Trot, getting home a 3-1/4 length winner over Braggen Bliss (Nick Roland) and SD Imma Superstar (Brian Detgen) in 2:03. It was the third win in five career starts for the son of Quality Kemp, owned by Jeralene Roland and trained by Dan Roland.
Tutto Bene (Todd Warren, $34.00) posted a 16-1 upset to capture his first career win in the $9,000 freshman Open Handicap Pace with a front-end trip and a game effort to hold off heavy favorite The Minnesota Kid (Luke Plano) by a head in 1:57.3 while One Last Booyah (Hunt) checked home in third. The winner is a son of Karpathian Kid and is owned by Ron Rettig-Zucchi and trained by Lino Pacheco.
Driver Nick Roland led the Tuesday night program with three wins while Jeff Hunt posted a double.
Live racing returns to Running Aces on Thursday night (Aug, 8) for an 11-race program that will feature a carryover of $21,800.80 in the 20-cent Pick-5 Jackpot wager which will get underway in race seven. First post is set for 6 p.m. (CDT).