One of the co-featured events on the Tuesday night (June 13) harness racing program at Running Aces was the $18,500 Open Pace for horses and geldings, which drew a very deeply talented field of eight rivals.
Macs Marvel (Luke Plano) was given the most regard in the win pool, sent off as the 4-5 choice from post three, while American Dreamer (Todd Warren) was the public’s clear second choice at 5-2 from post five.
Warren wasted no time in getting American Dreamer to the front of the affair and led comfortably through the early panels while throwing down solid speed of :26.3 and :55 as Officer Jim (Mooney Svendsen) sat in the pocket and Cheese Omelet (Dean Magee) saved ground in third.
Plano sent Macs Marvel into first-over action from fourth and was able to slide into the second spot down the backstretch while Cheese Omelet held his ground and Officer Jim dropped back.
American Dreamer ($7) registered a :27.2 third quarter, which kept his rivals in chase mode, and he continued to pace strong in the lane and cruised home for a 4-1/4-length tally in 1:50.1, which equalled the track mark for aged pacing geldings. It was originally set in 2019 by Real Gorgeous and matched in 2022 by Little Rocket Man.
Macs Marvel was second best and was 3-1/2 lengths clear of Cheese Omelet in third.
The winner is a nine-year-old son of American Ideal who now shows 29 career wins and earnings of $388,765. He is owned by Wilson Racing Stable, Ann Calvert and Mark Eichberger, and is trained by Tim Wilson Jr.
Graceful Horizon (Nick Roland, $15.60) delivered another sharp performance to make it two in a row while capturing the $18,500 Mares Open Pace with a 1-3/4-length triumph in 1:52.3.
Wonder Of Love (Svendsen) made the early pace while Lady Rocknrolla A (Plano) got the pocket trip and Graceful Horizon got away in third and travelled in that spot before Roland activated her to the outside as they headed for the far turn.
The five-year-old daughter of Vertical Horizon continued to move forward and forged to the lead in mid-stretch before pulling away late for a 1-3/4-length tally over late-closing longshot Hottieonthehorizon (Rick Magee) with Lady Rocknrolla A picking up third money.
The winner is owned by Set The Pace Racing and is also trained by Roland. She now shows 22 career wins and has earned $215,133 to date.
Trainer Liberio Pacheco registered a double on the card with his pacers Maui (Svendsen, $61.00) and Pancetta (Plano, $35.80) to achieve his 500th career training win. Plano recorded a driving double and Roland posted a driving and training double.
The late Pick 4 sequence saw no winning favourites and yielded no tickets with all four numbers correct, which has sparked a carryover of $4,157.33 for the early 50-cent Pick 4 on Thursday night (June 15). Running Aces, in conjunction with the USTA's Strategic Wagering Program, has added a $12,500 Instant Guarantee for the Early Pick-4 on Thursday.
In addition to the Pick-4 carryover, Running Aces also have a carryover of $2,203.10 for the Hi-5 wager in Race 4 and the 20-cent Pick-5 Jackpot pool has advanced to $4,849.12 going into the Thursday night program. Post time at Running Aces is 7 p.m. (CDT).
(Running Aces)