Running Aces’ Father’s Day Sunday program on June 17 got off to a soggy start. The program saw a one-and-a-half-hour delay that forced the cancellation of the first race.

Heavy rains pelted the track surface on multiple occasions during the hour before scheduled post time, and forced the track maintenance crew to go into beast mode in order to facilitate the evening’s racing program. A large holiday crowd waited patiently for the track to be restored to safe conditions, and once the racing began, the action did not disappoint.

The first dash of the evening was won by Scramble Camp ($2.40), who posted an impressive sweeping victory from the back of the pack. He blasted by his rivals in the lane and won by four lengths in 1:58.2 for driver Mooney Svendsen. The eye-opening win came in the $8,800 three-year old Open Trot. Scramble Camp now remains undefeated after four starts in 2018. He is a gelding by Weight Lifter and is owned by Daniel and Jeralene Roland.

As a testament to the hard work of the track crew, seven-year-old gelding pacer Prodigal ($8.20) posted an impressive 1:52.4 lifetime-best victory in the third contest of the night for driver James Yoder and owner/trainer Mark Anderson. The victory came in a $6,800 conditioned event.

The $20,000 Running Aces Featured Pace was the drawing card on the night, and it indeed drew a field of talented pacers. Hawks Red Chief (driven by Dean Magee) was the post time favourite at 8-5, fresh off a near miss by a neck in his last start.

Second wagering choice Stevensville (5-2) fired fastest from the gate with Rick Magee and took an early lead from the other fast leaver, Firedrake, who was also sent off at 5-2. Nick Roland yielded with Firedrake to sit the pocket, while Stevensville posted the early fractions of :26.3 and :56.1.

In the back half, Bestinthebusiness got rolling as driver James Yoder sent him first-over and on the attack. He grinded alongside the front runner, Stevensville, down the backstretch, and was able to stick a neck in front at three-quarters in 1:23.3.

From there, the 10-year-old gelding by Another Mile stayed ultra-game, as he fought off strong late rallies from a pair of longshots. He posted a one-length tally in 1:52.2 over To The Limit (Tim Brown) and Make It Big (Steve Wiseman). Hawks Red Chief and Firedrake completed the top five.

Bestinthebusiness ($14.00) is owned by Brett Boyd Racing, Inc. and is trained by Gene Miller. The talented pacer has very impressive career numbers with 43 lifetime wins and 103 top-three finishes while bankrolling $410,330.

Winning driver James Yoder completed a Hat-Trick on the program and driver Lemoyne ‘Mooney’ Svendsen also completed a hat-trick on the program.

(With files from Running Aces)