Columbus, MN — Team Alvarez/Hernandez is ready to defend their top trainer title at Running Aces.

Last year they topped all other trainers at Aces with 50 wins and 108 top-three finishes in 183 starts, collecting $556,678 in purses for their ownership connections. It was the first career training title for 26-year-old Maria Alvarez, who hails from Sacramento, Calif. and grew up around harness racing.

Maria Alvarez and Williams Hernandez with top trotter All American N, who won nine races last summer at Running Aces. Darin Gagne photo.

She is the trainer of record for the stable of her longtime boyfriend Williams Hernandez and the pair makes a great team, sharing duties around the barn and consulting each other on everything from training techniques to naming baby racehorses. When I caught up with them this week they appeared to be well settled into their Minnesota digs and ready to take on the new season.

This year they are excited to be back at Running Aces where it “feels like home” according to Hernandez. They have raced out east quite a bit over the last couple of years and they have found a fair amount of success out there as well, but the pair both said that they are most comfortable and most in their element here at Running Aces.

Some of their top stable stars from last summer are gearing up for their 2023 Minnesota campaigns, including top trotter All American N, who won nine races here last year, including his second straight Wiseman Memorial FFA.

Hernandez shared that “He raced out east a bit last fall but he just doesn’t like it out there as much as he does here, so we raced him a bit and then turned him out to rest up.”

He is expected to qualify next week.

Top level pacer Caliber was also among the winningest horses of last season in both wins and purses and he has kind of followed a similar path as his aforementioned stablemate since the end of the 2022 Aces meet. He last raced in December at The Meadowlands, had plenty of time for R&R before going back into training a few short months ago, and is expected to be ready to qualify in a week or so. If he comes back anywhere near as sharp as he was when he arrived here last summer, the competition better savor the first couple of weeks that he is out.

King Of Aces is the pride and joy of their stable because he is their homebred Minnesota-sired “baby” who is now three and will be one to watch in the sophomore races this summer. He overcame lots of adversity to make it to the races and was quite impressive once he arrived on the scene, posting two wins and a third and earning $22,455 from just five starts. He took a freshman mark of 1:55.3.

They have a couple of new trotters for owner Terrence Smith, including Chiplosive (Explosive Matter), a 7-year-old who has 24 career wins and $290,842 in the bank. His most recent mile was a winning effort at Harrah’s Philadelphia in a solid 1:54.1 clocking.

Winnerup (Credit Winner) is a 7-year-old and has amassed $426,294 in earnings with 19 career wins to date. He has a career mark of 1:52.1 at The Meadowlands.

Hernandez feels that these two trotters will make an impact here at Running Aces and he is excited to see what they can do. Alvarez added that “We have only had them for a few weeks, maybe a month, so we don’t know them as well as some of our other horses but we think they will do well for us.

“We also have a new 5-year-old pacing mare, Disaronno Hill, who is a daughter of Racing Hill; we are kind of excited about her as well.”

Disaronno Hill shows 15 career wins and $218,403 in the bank, with a mark of 1:51.2 from Eldorado Scioto Downs last year. She is also owned by Smith.

Fans may also remember the pacer Way To Close, who raced here early last season and showed lots of speed and ability before suffering a soft-tissue injury in late June. He has had plenty of rehab time and rest and has been back in training and is most definitely another one to watch on the long list of potential stars on the Alvarez/Hernandez stable roster for the 2023 season.

You can root for team Alvarez/Hernandez and all of your other favorite Running Aces horses, owners, trainers and drivers starting this Sunday night (May 14) when the curtain will rise for the 2023 live season. First post is at 7 p.m. (CDT).