One of the featured events on the Sunday evening (May 21) card at Running Aces was the Seppo Hakamaa Memorial race, a $7,200 trotting event which attracted a field of seven.
The race was named in memory of Mr. Hakamaa who passed away last fall at the age of 81. He was a friend of all in the harness racing community in Minnesota and is usually associated with the pacer Goody Two Socks, a Minnesota Hall Of Fame inductee (class of 2018) whom Hakamaa owned throughout his racing career.
A very large group of family, friends and fellow owners, trainers and drivers made their way into the winner’s circle to celebrate Hakamaa’s memory.
Bordogna (Rick Magee) was sent off as the 7-5 favourite in the contest and offered plenty of speed at the start to surge to the front quickly from post six, while longshot Fox Valley Britzka (Luke Plano) also left sharply from post three and secured the pocket position.
Magee settled Bordogna into a nice rhythm on the front and they led comfortably at every call. Heckraiser Hanover (Jacob Cutting) launched a three-wide rally nearing the far turn but failed to make an impression on the leaders and Bordogna trotted strong in the lane to keep Fox Valley Britzka at bay, posting a 2-1/4 length winning margin in 1:56.2 for a seasonal mark. Defriended (Gerald Longo), who was 25-1 on the board, rounded out the top three.
Bordogna now sports two wins in six starts this year and 32 career victories, with career earnings of $185,357. He is owned by Cathy Dessert and Ken Stauffer and trained by Justin Anfinson.
Jack Rabbit Slims captured his second-straight $18,500 Aces Open Trot event with a sharp rally from mid-pack to kick away from his rivals late and post a one-length score in a seasonal best 1:54.4 with trainer/driver Plano in tow. The pair were the heavy 1-2 favourites and are now a perfect three-for-three in 2023. The winner is owned by Christopher Schick.
Plano led the Sunday program with three driving wins, while Todd Warren, Rick Magee and trainer Justin Anfinson all registered doubles.
Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Tuesday, May 23 with an 11-race program and features a carryover of $5,109.68 in the 20-cent Pick-5 Jackpot wager.
(Running Aces)