After the favourites made early miscues, Escaper and driver Billy Mann pulled off a 26-1 upset in the $20,548 preview of the Steve Wiseman Memorial Free For All Trot on Sunday, Aug. 10 at Running Aces. 

DP Freedoms Chrome, who had been undefeated in 15 local starts in his career was making his Running Aces return in this event and was bet down as the 1-20 favourite from post six while defending Wiseman trot champion and 50-time career winner All Champy was sent off as the 5-1 second choice from post one.

All Champy (Mooney Svendsen) made a mistake at the start and got away last while Escaper and Bringoverthemoney (Dean Magee) both left quickly with Escaper taking the top as they headed around the first turn while DP Freedoms Chrome (James Gould) floated wide and was advancing toward the front before making a break right at the :27.4 quarter-mile mark.

All Champy got rolling near the :59.1 half-mile checkpoint and made a breathtaking move to the front as they headed down the backside, relegating Escaper to second while Bringoverthemoney tracked along in third.

DP Freedoms Chrome was not able to get back into contention as All Champy posted a quick :28 third panel and led the field into the lane.

Escaper had much more to offer and vacated the pocket as they straightened for the drive, and it was clearly a two-horse contest with the top pair battling it out in the final yards. Escaper was able to surge past All Champy late to garner a 1-1/4-length tally in 1:56.2 while Bringoverthemoney was third best.

Escaper is trained by Maria Alvarez and owned by Terrence Smith of Lancaster, Texas. The four-year-old gelded son of Muscle Hill and Top Expectations earned his eighth victory of the season in 19 starts. 

Coming into the race with four Open victories at Aces this year, he returned $54.20 as the 26-1 third choice in the field.

Peanutbutterfalcon ($4.20), driven by Rick Magee, delivered another big performance to win the $12,329 Three-Year-Old Open Handicap Trot in 1:59. The talented son of Quality Kemp and Lindys On Fire went gate-to-wire and held off all late challengers to score his fifth win in a row by a half-length over Braggen Bliss (Nick Roland), with Oh Yes (Brady Jenson) getting home third. Now seven-for-eight this year, Peanutbutterfalcon is trained by Dan Roland for owner/breeder Jeri Roland of Sandstone, Minnesota.

Lexus Markus ($15.80), driven by Scott Cisco, pulled a mild upset in the $17,466 Open II Trot, converting a perfect pocket trip into a two-length triumph over Ice Breakers K i(Jenson) n 1:55.2 with race favourite Chiplosive (Mann) home in third. The win was the third in 22 starts this season for the eight-year-old son of Amigo Hall out of Lexus Helios for trainer Nathalie Tremblay, who also co-owns with Dave Kuri of Elverta, California.

Driver Rick Magee led the night with four wins while Brady Jenson posted a driving triple and a training double, and trainer Nathalie Tremblay also sent out two winners.

Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Tuesday, Aug. 12, with an eight-race program that will get underway at 7 p.m. (CDT). The program includes a carryover of $13,404.97 in the 20-cent Pick-5 Jackpot wager that will begin in race four.

(With files from Running Aces)