The featured events on the Sunday night (July 16) harness racing program at Running Aces included two $22,500 elimination divisions for the 2023 Dan Patch FFA Pace and they did not disappoint, providing thrills and chills to racing fans with big performances on the track.
American Dreamer and driver Todd Warren stole the show with a scintillating stretch drive in the second elimination to become the fastest Standardbred ever in Minnesota, dropping the Aces speed standard below the 1:50 plateau for the very first time.
Heavy favourite Hezzz A Wise Sky (Jacob Cutting) was fastest off the car and commanded the fast race fractions of :26.4, :54.1 and 1:21.1 while American Dreamer kept very close tabs in the pocket and Shamwow (Rick Magee) travelled in third.
Hezzz A Wise Sky continued to pace strong as they rounded for home but American Dreamer was clearly loaded with pace. As they straightened for the payoff, Hezzz A Wise Sky dug in for the challenge but American Dreamer ($10.80) exploded in the final sixteenth of a mile and powered past the leader, drawing clear by 2-3/4 lengths and stopping the timer at 1:49.2 to etch his name firmly into the local history books.
Macs Marvel (Luke Plano) rallied late to get past Shamwow and claim third money.
The winner is a nine-year-old son of American Ideal and is owned by Wilson Racing Stable, Ann Calvert and Mark Eichberger. He is trained by Tim Wilson Jr. as well as assistant Jenni DeMenge. He now has six wins on the season and 31 career wins with career earnings of $428,489. The 1:49.2 clocking equalled his career-best effort.
Wilson, DeMenge and Warren teamed up to sweep the eliminations as Crooked Smile delivered a big win for the team in the other $22,500 division converting a perfect pocket trip to score a one-length tally over No Lou Zing (Kevin Wallis) in 1:52, with Saddle Up (Dean Magee) and Caliber (Luke Plano) well back in third and fourth, respectively.
No Lou Zing posted all the fractions while Crooked Smile waited patiently in the pocket position and it was always clear that they were the top two in the affair. Crooked Smile tipped out as they straightened in the lane and it was a thrilling stretch battle with Crooked Smile ($3) gaining the edge late and posting his second straight win.
The winner is a six-year-old son of Panther Hanover owned by Wilson Racing Stable and Turn For Home Racing LLC. He now has 23 career wins and earnings of $311,156.
The top four finishers in each elimination as well as the fastest fifth-place finisher (PD The Big Easy, 1:51) qualified for the $50,000 Dan Patch FFA Final on Sunday, July 23.
The $18,500 Open Trot went to Winnerup ($5.20) and driver Luke Plano for the second straight week, as the seven-year-old son of Credit Winner posted a very sharp half-length win off a front-end trip in 1:54.2 over newcomer Stride The Hill (Wallis) with All American N (Brady Jenson) posting a big effort for third. The winner is owned by Terrence Smith and is trained by Williams Hernandez.
Todd Warren and Luke Plano both posted triples on the program while trainers Wilson and Hernandez each registered doubles.
Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Tuesday with an 11-race program that will get underway at 7 p.m. (CDT).
(With files from Running Aces)