Blazing Fury and trainer/driver Rick Magee turned a two-hole trip into a length and a half victory Saturday night when they split horses in the stretch to win the $9,000 Fillies and Mares Open Pace in 1:55.2 at Running Aces.
The eight-year-old daughter of Minnesota sire Relentless Yankee was making her first local start of the season. The homebred owned by Van Otterloo Stables earned her 41st career victory, 13th at Running Aces, and pushed past the $200,000 lifetime earnings plateau. Nocturnal Rose (Tim Maier) and Ladys Art (Steve Wiseman) were next to cross the wire.
Earlier on the program, driver Rob Dinning, a newcomer to Running Aces in 2014, enjoyed a back-to-back-to-back triple. The 31-year-old reinsman scored a huge victory with Bunkerhill Bill in a $13,000 event restricted to Minnesota-sired sophomore pacers. Owned and trained by Gene Miller, the winner lowered his lifetime best by over three seconds with the impressive 1:53.3 triumph.
Dinning's other winners were Maby Bonkey, who captured a $3,000 non-winners pace in 1:56.4, and Turbulance Force, who topped a field of condition-claiming trotters in 2:00.1.
(With files from Running Aces)