The season opening card has been drawn at Running Aces, with nine races scheduled for Sunday, May 14.

The featured event will be the $18,500 Open Trot, which is carded in Race 8 on the program and boasts a full field of nine talented competitors. Chiplosive (Post 4, Mooney Svendsen) is the 3-1 morning line favourite with Body Armor (Post 3, Nick Roland) selected as the 4-1 second choice. The former is a son of Explosive Matter and is a new acquisition for owner Terrence Smith and trainer Maria Alvarez.  He has won two of his last three starts out east, including a 1:54.1 score at Harrah’s Philadelphia in his most recent outing. The latter is a son of Creatine who has won three of his last four starts while competing at Cal-Expo for owner/trainer Gerald Longo. 

Jack Vernon (Post 1, Todd Warren) is a classy 10-year-old veteran son of Muscle Hill with $595,715 in the bank. He will be making his first start of the year in this event for trainer/driver and Aces newcomer Todd Warren and has been listed at 5-1 on the early line.

The opening night feature will fall as the third leg of the Late Pick-4 (50-cent minimum), which is guaranteed at $5,000 each Sunday as part of the USTA’s Strategic Wagering Program. Free program pages will be available on the USTA website each night for the Late Pick-4 races. The guaranteed gross pool amount for Tuesdays and Thursdays will be $3,000.

Here is a look at Running Aces's multi-race wagers for this season:

• Place Pick All – begins Race 1 – 20-cent minimum
• Early Pick Four – begins Race 2 – 50-cent minimum
• Early Pick Three – begins Race 3 – 50-cent minimum
• Super High 5 – Races 4 and last – 50-cent minimum
• Jackpot Pick Five – Last five races – 20-cent minimum
• Late Pick Four – Last four races – 50-cent minimum
• Late Pick Three – Last three races – 50-cent minimum
• Daily Double – Last two races – 50-cent minimum

The opening night festivities will also include a sunglasses giveaway, plus Pepsi Family Night with face painting as well as a colouring contest available for kids. There is also a $5 Leinenkugel’s drink special and there will also be drawings for a “60-second wagering spree.”

Post time for the first race on Sunday is 7 p.m. (CDT).

(With files from Running Aces)