Alilthundadownunda reminded everyone why he was voted as the Minnesota's Horse of the Year in 2021 as he posted his 45th career win while taking a new career mark of 1:51 in the featured $20,205 Open Handicap Pace on Tuesday, July 15 at Running Aces.

Trainer/driver Nick Roland floated his star pacer away alertly from post three to grab a seat in third while race favourite Hezzz A Wise Sky (Dean Magee) charged to the front and Spiritofanoutlaw (Brady Jenson) secured the pocket.

Hezzz A Wise Sky registered swift fractions of :26.4, :55.3 and 1:23.1 while Spiritofanoutlaw and Alilthundadownunda tracked along behind the leader and both PD The Big Easy (Brandon Jenson) and Over The Horizon (Billy Mann) tried the outer flow with little impact on the leaders.

In the lane Hezzz A Wise Sky came under pressure as Spiritofanoutlaw pulled the pocket and Alilthundadownunda dove into the passing lane.

Alilthundadownunda charged fastest to the wire and got home a half-length better than Spiritofanoutlaw with Hezzz A Wise Sky a further half-length back in third.

A son of Malak Uswaad N, Alilthundadownunda is owned by his breeder Set The Pace Racing LLC. The win also pushed his career earnings to $531,685, and he is among the top money winning Minnesota-sired horses to-date. He paid $19.60 to win.

The Tuesday program also featured Minnesota-sired freshman action with more than $116,000 in purses over six divisions.

Set Free won the $20,548 colts ‘A’ pace in 1:54.3 with driver Rick Magee aboard for owner Ken Stauffer and trainer Justin Anfinson, while Starstruck Fool won her fourth straight in the $20,548 fillies ‘A’ split with Nick Roland in the bike for owners Jeri and Briar Roland and trainer Lino Pacheco. The pacing ‘B’ divisions went to Wild About Me (Roland) in 2:00.1 and Baby Im Hot (Elson Miller) in 2:01.2.

On the freshman trotting side, SV Rough And Tough (Chad Svendsen) won his second straight race in the $23,973 colts division in 2:02.4 while Al Mar Flash Over (Roland) remains a perfect four-for-four lifetime after a 2:01.2 tally in the $17,500 filly division.

Nick Roland led the program with four driving wins and a training triple while Rick Magee posted a driving double. Those two are now tied at the top of the local drivers list with 41 wins each so far this season.

Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Thursday, July 17 for an 11-race program with first post at 7 p.m. (CDT).

(with files from Running Aces)