Favourites Domovoy and Yo Lucky Moni delivered winning performances in the two eliminations for the 2024 Steve Wiseman Memorial Trot contested on Sunday night, Aug. 11 at Running Aces. Each elimination had a field of six going for a purse of $23,973.

Aces overall trotting track record holder Domovoy ($2.40) was the overwhelming favourite in the first elimination and he did not disappoint his backers. Driver Jacob Cutting sent Domovoy to the lead from post five and they easily established command, while All Champy (Mooney Svendsen) also left swiftly and secured the pocket and Certify (Nick Roland) landed in third through the :27.2 opening quarter.

Domovoy remained comfortable through the middle stages in :55.4 and 1:24.3 while All Champy remained close in the pocket and Toccoa Falls (Williams Hernandez) attacked from first-over before dropping in third.

All Champy angled from the pocket in the lane to go after the leader, but Domovoy had plenty left in the tank and kicked home a 1-1/4-length winner in 1:54. All Champy was a solid second best and Toccoa Falls was a close third. Rounding out the top four finishers was Warrawee Whisper (Brady Jenson).

Trained by Edwin Quevedo, Domovoy now has seven wins from 17 outings and earnings of $83,961 this season. The four-year-old Triumphant Caviar, who went over the $200,000 earnings mark with his 15th career win, is owned by Dave Dobbelmann and Tom Carney.

Yo Lucky Moni ($4.20) and trainer/driver Williams Hernandez made an early move to the lead near the :28.2 quarter-mile juncture of the second elimination, taking over the top from stablemate Winnerup (Luke Plano) and then leading comfortably at every call through the moderate middle fractions of :55.4 and 1:26.2.  

Down the backstretch, Bringoverthemoney (Dean Magee) made a first-over bid to go after the leader and continued to battle with Yo Lucky Moni throughout the final quarter.

Yo Lucky Moni continued to trot strong in the lane and held gamely for a one-length score over Bringoverthemoney in the 1:55.1 mile, while Winnerup held for third and Novel (Roland) checked in fourth.

 Yo Lucky Moni is now four-for-10 this season with $47,226 earned. Owned by Friendship Stables and Terrence Smith, the four-year-old gelded son of International Moni picked up his 10th career win and now boasts a bankroll just shy of $260,000.

Certify was the fastest fifth-place finisher from the eliminations, which earns him the final spot in the $35,000 USD Wiseman Memorial final that will be the featured event next Sunday, Aug. 18.

Former Minnesota Harness Racing Horse of the Year Alilthundadownunda delivered a big performance to capture his 40th career win in an $8,356 conditioned event in 1:55.1. A career winner of more than $400,000, the six-year-old son of Malak Uswaad N is trained and driven by Nick Roland for owner/breeder Set The Pace Racing.

Drivers Brady Jenson, Todd Warren and Elson Miller all posted doubles on the Sunday card while Miller also posted a training double.

Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Tuesday night, Aug. 1 for a nine-race program that will feature a carryover of $25,677.62 in the 20-cent Pick-5 Jackpot wager, which will get underway in race five. First post on Tuesday is 7 p.m. (CDT).

(With files from Running Aces)