The Tuesday, July 7 harness racing program at Running Aces shined the spotlight on the Minnesota-sired rookie pacers and trotters, with $108,571 in purses up for grabs across five divisions of freshman events.

In the $22,857 'A' split for pacing fillies, Slipped Onmybeans (Captainryanmichael-Fancy Little Girl) lived up to the hype as the 1-20 favourite and delivered her third career victory in four starts while posting a new mark of 1:56.1, winning by nearly four lengths over Stormy Shores (Justin Van Otterloo) and Lady Gulf (Brady Jenson). Dean Magee drove the winner for trainer/owner Scott Banitt.

Captain Ricky (Captainryanmichael-Exsqueezeme) rallied late to capture his first pari-mutuel win with a 1:56.4 mile, following up on an Iowa fair score while besting Bombi (Lemoyne Svendsen) and Goodly (Luke Plano) by 2-1/2 lengths in the $22,857 male 'A' pacing division. Casey Leonard was the driver behind the 7-5 favourite, who is trained by Justin Anfinson for owners Alan & Cheryl Sandbulte of Maurice, Iowa and Stephanie Anfinson of Kenyon, Minnesota.

The Justin Anfinson-trained filly Big Keliane (Big Oil-Quelene Bayama) advanced to three-for-three lifetime with a solid one-length tally in the $30,000 trotting division, with a 2:04.4 mile over Turbo Tinker (Casey Leonard) and Spiceitupwithoil (Luke Plano). Nick Roland was in the bike behind the popular 3-5 winner for Stephanie Anfinson and co-owners Jay DeLong of Clinton, Wisconsin, Ken Stauffer of Withee, Wisconsin and Craig Banks of Cannon Falls, Minnesota.

The $15,714 'B' pacing division went to Lochloosa (Gulf Shores-Perch) in 1:56.4 for trainer/driver Brady Jenson and owner Jeff Fought Racing of East Bernstadt, Kentucky, and the $10,000 'C' pacing division went to Cacheforthedevil (Aracache Hanover-Devils Table) in 1:56.2 with Nick Roland in the bike for trainer Mikaela Delgiudice and owner Kevin Magee of Clintonville, Wisconsin. Both were first-time winners.

This week's $22,857 Open Handicap Pace went to Alta Revelry N, who surged from the pocket in the final sixteenth of a mile to get up by a head over heavy favourite Cash Money Twenty (Casey Leonard) in a thrilling photo finish in 1:51.1 for his fourth win of the season in 21 starts. Nick Roland drove the eight-year-old Sunshine Beach-Alta Michaela gelding, who was the 9-2 second choice in the wagering following a win and two runner-up finishes to Cash Money Twenty in his last outings, for trainer Luke Plano and owner J M F Racing of Freehold, New Jersey.

Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Thursday, July 9 for an 11-race program that will include a carryover of $33,883.82 in the 20-cent Jackpot Pick-5 wager that gets underway in race seven. Post time is set for 6 p.m. (CDT). 

(With files from Running Aces; photo of Slipped Onmybeans winning on July 7)