The $35,000 Ron Banks Memorial FFA Mares Pace was the main event on the Sunday evening (June 25) harness racing card at Running Aces and featured a deeply talented field of eight top-level distaffers going into battle over a rain-soaked surface, which was listed as sloppy.
Maggie Rhee was the 1-2 public choice and was looking to protect her perfect local record of four wins in four starts, including a dominating three-length score in her $20,000 elimination in 1:52.2 on June 18 and a sensational track record-tying performance in 1:51 on June 8.
The public also showed plenty of respect to Scorecard Dandy, who made her local debut last week with an impressive gate-to-wire performance in her elimination split in 1:51.3 while 4-1/4 lengths ahead of her rivals. She was sent off as the 7-5 second choice while Graceful Horizon was the only other horse below double-digits at 9-1 on the board.
When the gates folded up and the starter pulled away, it was Scorecard Dandy (Jacob Cutting) who got the first call from post three while Graceful Horizon (Nick Roland) also left sharply from the inside and driver Todd Warren and favourite Maggie Rhee charged fast from post six to pose an early challenge for the lead.
Maggie Rhee had the call at the quarter pole in :27.1 and settled on top before the three-eighths marker while Scorecard Dandy was forced to yield and take the pocket trip. Wonder Of Love (Mooney Svendsen) had also left fast from the far outside post and was caught out through the early and middle stages.
The middle fractions were quite reasonable (:56.2 and 1:25.1) and Maggie Rhee was a comfortable leader at each call. Disaronno Hill (Luke Plano) made a three-wide bid down the backstretch to get around Wonder Of Love while Graceful Horizon saved ground as they headed around the final turn.
In the lane, it was clearly a two-horse race and Scorecard Dandy angled from the pocket to go after the leader but Maggie Rhee dug in gamely and was never in doubt, holding on impressively for a half-length tally to remain perfect at Running Aces. She stopped the timer in 1:52.4 to register her 30th career win.
Disaronno Hill was third-best while well back of the top-two finishers and Graceful Horizon rounded out the top four.
Maggie Rhee is a six-year-old daughter of Jerames Jet and out of the The Big Dog mare Bow Wow Wine. She was bred by John Leahy and is owned by Wilson Racing Stable, Norman Nef and Mark Eichberger. The mare is trained by Tim Wilson Jr. along with assistant Jenni DeMenge. She paid $3 to win.
A very large contingent of family and friends gathered in the winner’s circle for the Ron Banks Memorial, which is an annual event to honour the memory of a great friend to Minnesota harness racing.
Mr. Banks was a well-respected owner, trainer and breeder who also loved to dabble as a race announcer. He served on the board for the Minnesota horsemen and he was one of a group that worked tirelessly to gain approval for a pari-mutuel harness track license in north-metro Minnesota, which ultimately led to the opening of Running Aces.
Chiplosive exploded with late trot to sweep by the field late in the $18,500 Open Handicap Trot to register his fourth win of the season in rein to Dean Magee.
Susies Sister (Svendsen) and All American N (Plano) and Jack Vernon (Warren) were the fastest off the car and took the top early positions. Susies Sister made a miscue before the half and Dylan The Great launched a first-over bid while both Chiplosive and Bringoverthemoney (Cutting) followed. All American N led until deep in the lane before falling under siege from all sides while Chiplosive angled to the far outside and charged by everyone else to get up for a half-length win in 1:57.3. He paid $12.80 to win.
The winner is a seven-year-old gelding by Explosive Matter, owned by Terrence Smith and trained by Williams Hernandez.
Al Mar Richs Jetta delivered a big performance as the 2-5 favourite in the $18,250 Minnesota-sired sophomore filly pace to register her first win of the season with a 2:03.1 mile over the sloppy going.
The daughter of Lear Jetta held off several challenges throughout the mile and kept pocket-sitter Wisco Tootsie (Rick Magee) at bay in the lane while 76-1 longshot Sdiwannabaracehorse (Brian Detgen) was able to pick up the pieces for third money.
The winner is owned by Larry Jenson, trained by Brady Jenson and was driven to victory by her regular pilot Brandon Jenson.
The $18,250 colts & geldings division was presented on an early non-betting card and featured a bulky field of 10 starters.
Ice Splitter (Warren) led the affair from post one while BPS Lucky Star and driver Mooney Svendsen emerged from the second tier to secure the pocket ride as Weekend At Bernies (Sean Smithpeters), Wisco Wild Card (Cuttin) and Iron Sharpens Iron (Plano) all travelled on the outside during the action-packed affair. The outside horses failed to make much of an impression on the leader and BPS Lucky Star benefitted from a ground-saving journey to close fast in the passing lane and capture victory by 1-3/4 lengths over Ice Splitter and Iron Sharpens Iron, whose win streak ended at 13, in a career-best 1:59.2 mile.
The winner, a son of For You Almostfree, is owned by trainer Rick Huffman, as well as Brenda Lovetinsky and Penny Lundell.
Todd Warren led the Sunday program with four driving wins while trainers Brady Jenson and Justin Anfinson both recorded doubles.
Live harness sacing returns to Running Aces on Tuesday with an 11-race program that will feature a carryover of $11,626.63 for the 20-cent Pick-5 Jackpot wager. First post at Running Aces is 7 p.m. (CDT).
(With files from Running Aces)