The historic Day of Champions program on Saturday (Oct. 3) at Running Aces is in the books, and Twilight Tinker stole the show when she became the first to ever win three consecutive championship crowns.
Stuckey Dote also made history by picking up his fourth career Minnesota Championship crown.
$540,000 in purses were featured, becoming the richest single day of harness racing in track history and in Minnesota history as well.
A capacity crowd wagered the highest on-track total of the season as 100 of the best Minnesota-Sired trotters and pacers battled on the track in 12 divisional Championship races that each carried a purse of $45,000.
Twilight Tinker (Nick Roland, $3.60) completed her historic "threepeat" in the older trotting mares division with a two-and-a-quarter length score in 1:57.3 over Al Mar Reba Babe and Al Mar Bon Bon. Owner Cathy Dessert would go on to win another Championship later in the card, while Nick Roland picked up a Champions Day record of five wins on the card, and trainer Jessica Johnson went on to score four wins on the day.
Its A Marcs World (Nick Roland, $2.20) delivered another huge performance to capture the sophomore pacing male Championship in 1:55.2 over Bunkerhill Phil and Nothinbutagoodtime. The win marked three in a row and nine on the season for Its A Marcs World.
Stuckey Dote (Darrell Wright, $3.20) delivered as the favourite in the older pacing male Championship in 1:54, becoming the first horse to ever win four Minnesota Championships. Stuckey Dote dug in gamely late in the mile, holding off SB Bodacious and Marktentwentyseven for his 39th win. Stuckey Dote has now earned $394,919.
Its Pacific Time (Rick Magee, $2.10) rolled to her 12th win of the season, pacing a 1:54.4 mile to capture the sophomore filly pacing Championship over Scarlett Ruby and Huftalookatdatfany. Rick Magee would go on to win three on the day.
Rush To The Bank (Nick Roland, $2.20) completed seven wins in a row to capture the freshman trotting male Championship in 2:02.2 over Ice Titan and Oh Danny Boy. The winner is a gelded son of the late Running Aces trotting star Banker Volo.
The other Championship winners were:
The Royal Queen (Rick Magee, $4.60) in 2:01.1 in the freshman filly trot for trainer Justin Anfinson.
Lone Star Tap (Brandon Jenson, $44.40) in 1:59.1 in the sophomore male trot, also trained by Brandon Jenson.
Twilight Sunset (Rick Magee, $3.20) in 1:58 in the freshman male pace for trainer Brady Jenson.
Teachmehowtotory (Nick Roland, $7.40) in 1:58 in the freshman filly trot for trainer Jessica Johnson.
Bringoverthemoney (Brady Jenson, $14.80) in 1:59.1 in the older male trot for trainer Katie Horvat.
Bertha Vanation (Nick Roland, $8.20) in 1:56.1 in the older mares pace for trainer Jessica Johnson.
Breeders Glen Sauder and John Hendricks had two winners on the Champions day program.
Live Racing continues on Sunday (Oct. 4), which will close out the 2020 racing season at Running Aces. Post time is at 1:00 p.m. (CDT) and there are nine races on the final day program. Mandatory payouts will be in effect for all wagering pools, including the 20-cent Pick-5 Jackpot, which will start out the day with $20,435 in carryover money.
(Running Aces)