Columbus, MN – The Tuesday night (July 8) harness racing program at Running Aces was highlighted by the weekly $14,750 Open Handicap pace as well as six divisions of Minnesota-sired freshman trotters and pacers.
Speaking Volumes (Rick Magee) was the public choice at 6-5 in the Open pace after a solid second-place showing in last week’s edition in a fast 1:50 mile, which was won by War Machine, who was a late scratch in this week’s affair.
Magee wasted no time in sending the 5-year-old Artspeak gelding into action and they easily grabbed command of the contest to post opening fractions of :27.1 and :57.2 while PD The Big Easy (Brady Jenson) landed in the pocket and Alilthundadownunda (Nick Roland) was lined up in third.
Mac’s Marvel (Luke Plano) initially floated away sixth and last befote launching a first-over bid near the three-eighths juncture.
Down the backside Mac’s Marvel provided some mid-race pressure to the leader and Always Andrew (Billy Mann) followed his cover. The field was tightly packed as they rounded past the three-quarter mark in 1:25.1 with Speaking Volumes still going strong.
In the lane, they fanned across the track to pursue the leader but Speaking Volumes had plenty left and would seal the deal with a :27.4 final quarter while Alilthundadownunda rallied late inside to grab second money and PD The Big Easy checked home third in the 1:53 mile.
It was the second win on the season for Speaking Volumes ($4.40) for owner Little Bapa and trainer Brady Jenson.
Cool Mr Cool (Wind Me Up) posted his first career win in the $15,000 freshman colts ‘A’ pace with a sparkling 1:56.1 tally by 2-1/4 lengths over pace setter Set Free (Rick Magee) and Memorialized (Billy Mann). Nick Roland was the winning pilot and worked out a perfect journey for Cool Mr Cool ($27.40) who appeared to have far more to give after the impressive score.
The winner is owned by Kyle Larner and is trained by Justin Anfinson.
Starstruck Fool (Roland, $2.60) delivered a sharp gate-to-wire effort for her second straight win in the freshman filly ‘A’ pace, taking a new career mark of 1:57.3 over Squeez Master (Mann) and Hilarious Hannah (Jenson). The winner is a daughter of Karpathian Kid and is owned by Jeri and Briar Roland and trained by Lino Pacheco.
Al-Mar Flash Over (Roland, $2.40) did not disappoint her many backers as she provided a coast-to-coast effort in 2:02.4 to advance to three-for-three lifetime while Wisco Moni Heist (Sean Smithpeters) was second best and Wyoming Bound (Scott Cisco) was home in third in the $21,000 freshman ‘A’ trot. The winner is a daughter of Southwind Flash and is owned by Thomas and Kathy Shipley and Royal Roland and is also trained by Nick Roland.
The other freshman winners included Swinging On Over (Roland, $3.80) in the $10,000 pacing colts ‘B’ division, Thiskidcanfly (Luke Plano, $4.80) in the $10,000 fillies ‘B’ pace in 2:02.1 and SV Rough And Tough (Chad Svendsen, $3.60) in the $14,000 freshman ‘B’ trot in 2:03.3.
Nick Roland led the program with four driving wins while Brady Jenson and Justin Anfinson each had training doubles.
Live racing returns to Running Aces on Thursday night (July 10) for a 12-race program that will get underway at 6 p.m. (CDT).