It was party time again at Running Aces for the connections of Rock Party, a six-year-old son of Cantab Hall who surged to the finish line just in time to make it two in a row in the $18,500 Open Trot on Sunday, June 11.

Driver Dean Magee steered his charge Rock Party into the four-hole from post one and sat in while All American N (Luke Plano) and Winner Up (Nick Roland) went toward the front during the :27.4 quarter. Susies Sister (Mooney Svendsen) had early speed and dropped in third before making a mistake near the three-eighths mark.  

All American N held a comfortable lead through the mid-race fractions of :57.1 and 1:26.2 and the top three were all in contention as they rounded for home.

The leader braced for a two-pronged attack in the lane as Rock Party surged outside and Winner Up surged inside which resulted in a thrilling battle to the wire and a three-horse photo for win.

After the dust had settled, it was Rock Party (pictured above) who prevailed by a scant margin over Winner Up and All American N in the 1:55.1 mile. He paid $10 to win.

The winner is owned by Chupp Racing Stable and is trained by Bob Johnson. He now shows 20 career wins and earnings of $197,257 to date. 

Iron Sharpens Iron delivered another impressive performance in the $22,000 ‘A division’ of the Minnesota-sired sophomore trot to make it 13 in a row and advance to a perfect four-for-four in 2023.

The ultra-impressive son of Banker Volo was a winner by five lengths while trotting a final quarter of :28.3 and stopping the timer in 1:57 for the second straight week. Luke Plano was the winning pilot for owners Jeralene Roland, Devon Arp and Alfredo Villarreal, and trainer Dan Roland. Wisco Wild Card (Cutting) was a clear second-best and Whatta Tettegouche (Dean Magee) was well back in third.

Iron Sharpens Iron has now won 15 of 16 lifetime races while bankrolling $151,430.

Wisco Tootsie picked up her second career win with a convincing 4-3/4-length triumph in the $14,500 ‘B division’ with trainer Dan Roland in the bike.

The pair got away in third from post seven and sat patiently before getting rolling on the outside as they rounded the far turn. In the lane, Wisco Tootsie trotted strongest of all and impressively pulled away from the field in the final sixteenth of a mile, stopping the timer in 2:01.2 for a new career mark, while Corona Cobra (Brett Erickson) was second-best and Caronamar (Todd Warren) was home in third. The daughter of Southwind Flash paid $9 to win.

The winner is owned by The Sandstone Social Club.

Dean Magee led the Sunday program with three driving wins while Mooney Svendsen and trainers Katie Horvat and Dan Roland all registered doubles.

Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Tuesday night with a nine-race program that gets underway at 7 p.m. (CDT) and features a carryover of $3,920.09 in the 20-cent Pick-5 Jackpot wager.

(With files from Running Aces)