Little Tootsie set an all-time distaff track record at Running Aces on Saturday night, nailing Dandy Di by a neck in 1:53 to shave one-fifth of a second off the old mares pacing record of 1:53.1, set by Love This Place in 2010
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The four-year-old Minnesota-sired daughter of General Aidid sat a two-hole trip for leading driver Dean Magee, letting Dandy Di (Nick Roland) do all the heavy lifting on the front end through fractions of :27.1, :55.2 and 1:24.1. She then tipped at the head of the lane and just wore the pacesetter down a step or two from the wire after a final panel of :28.2. Blazing Fury (Rick Magee) finished third in the $4,500 state-restricted event for older pacing mares.
It was the fourth win of the year for Merlin Van Otterloo’s Little Tootsie, whose career earnings now exceed $70,000.
WW Win (Dean Magee) captured a companion Minnesota-sired event for older male pacers in 1:56.1. The Margaret Epp-owned five-year-old son of I Win bested Whirling Sam (Nick Roland) and Gogan (Tim Maier) for his first score in 2011, although he was second or third in three previous starts behind Restless Yankee, who will tackle “open” competition at Running Aces on Sunday.
DJ Speedy Fox (Craig Banks) dominated the Minnesota-sired trotting feature with a five-length score over One Bad Cookie (Gerry Longo) and Speedy Sensation (Rick Magee) in 1:59.1. The four-year-old Dem Speedy Bones mare now has two seconds and two wins in state-bred action over the last month. For driver Banks, who owns the winner in partnership with Ernest and Lucas Koltis, it was the 997th win of his career.
Dew Hanover (Nick Roland) won the third leg of the Future Stars trotting series in 2:01, topping Tropicana Special (Maier) and Flea Flicker (Joey Mapes). The winner is trained by Kim Johnson for the partnership of Gary Liles and Wanda Wilken. The green trotters who qualified will contest a $6,000 championship leg next Saturday.
The 50-cent Pick Six was solved for the first time in 15 nights on Saturday with four lucky winners each receiving $712.55 for their minimal investments.
(Running Aces)