Rock Party captured the Sunday night (June 18) harness racing feature, an $18,500 Open Handicap Pace, for the third straight week at Running Aces, posting a very sharp and gutsy performance to hold off all challengers at the wire by a neck and equal his career-best win time of 1:54.4.
Dean Magee was in the bike behind the six-year-old son of Cantab Hall and wasted no time in sending him to the front of the affair from post seven, having to work a bit to clear early leader All American N (Luke Plano) just after the :28.1 quarter-mile. Once settled on the lead, Rock Party was quite comfortable and had no trouble fending off a mid-race attack from Winnerup (Nick Roland), who continued to threaten the leader all the way to the finish. In the homestretch, Rock Party was under siege from both All American N, who charged inside, as well as Winnerup, who was still surging outside, but Rock Party ($5.80) dug in gamely and kept his neck in front at the wire for his third tally in a row, while All American N was second best and just ahead of his stablemate Winnerup in third. The winner is owned by Chupp Racing Stable and is trained by Bob Johnson.
Maggie Rhee ($2.20, Todd Warren) had no trouble capturing her $20,000 elimination division of the 2023 Ron Banks Memorial, working to the lead just past the quarter and easily controlling things from there. The impressive six-year-old daughter of Jerames Jet paced home in :26.4 to leave her rivals three lengths back at the wire in a 1:52.2 mile for her fourth straight win at Running Aces. Wonder Of Love (Svendsen) was a clear second over Disaronno Hill (Plano) and Hottieonthehorizon (Rick Magee). Those four will advance to the $35,000 final on Sunday, June 25. Trained by Tim Wilson, the winner is owned by Wilson Racing Stable Inc., Norman Neff and Mark Eichberger.
Scorecard Dandy ($3.60) made quite an impression in her first Minnesota start to capture the second $20,000 elimination while posting the fastest mile of the night in 1:51.3 with a gate-to-wire victory. Driver Jacob Cutting sent the talented five-year-old daughter of Sportsmaster to the lead and the pair impressively fought off a strong challenge from Graceful Horizon (Roland) down the backside before pulling away from the field late for a 4-1/4-length victory. Lady Rocknrolla A was second best over Divine Art, while Graceful Horizon and Arrival completed the top five and will round out the field of nine for next week’s final. The winner is trained by John Filomeno and owned by Green Acres LLC and Mike Kilmas.
Driver Mooney Svendsen led the Sunday program with three wins, while both Jacob Cutting and Luke Plano as well as trainers Bob Johnson and Williams Hernandez all posted doubles on the card.
Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Tuesday night (June 20) with a 10-race program, which features a carryover of $8,237.48 in the 20-cent Pick-5 Jackpot wager. Post time at Running Aces is 7 p.m. (CDT).
(Running Aces)