Silence Son and Keep The Dream won their respective $8,000 Opens at Running Aces on Sunday night while the 50-cent Pick 6 -- offering a $5,000 guaranteed pool -- went unsolved due to a pair of longshot winners.
When racing resumes at Running Aces on Tuesday (July 7) night, track officials expect that the Pick 6 pool will grow to well over $10,000.
Silence Son (Nick Roland) took full advantage of a two-hole trip behind favoured Franky Provolone (Steve Wiseman), passing the front-runner in deep stretch to win the Open Trot by three-quarters of a length. After comfortable fractions for the track’s top trotters of :28.2, :58.3 and 1:28.1, the winner put a finishing :28.3 quarter on his triumphant 1:57 mile. Californian George Reider both owns and trains the six-year-old son of Majestic Son, who now has $88,502 in career earnings. Jailer (Rick Bertrand) got the show dough in the featured race for square-gaiters.
Keep The Dream gave Roland, the leading driver at the meet, a sweep of the pair of features by copping her $8,000 event for the best pacing mares in Minnesota in 1:54.4. The five-year-old Mach Three mare was placed fourth through the first two fractions of :28.1 and :58, then moved first-up through the 1:26.1 third panel to pull within a length of pacesetting Part Time Lady. With a strong :28.2 closing panel, Keep The Dream passed the leader and held off fellow closers De Valeria (Tim Maier) and Rev Me Up (Mark O’Pool) to garner her third local victory, but first in Open company. The winner boosted her lifetime bounty to $132,431 for owner Dr. James Findlay of British Columbia.
Sunday’s handle of $220,098 was the best of the young 2015 summer meet at Running Aces. Bigger and better numbers are expected on Tuesday when a solid 11-race card -- including the 50-cent Pick 6 with an estimated $10,000-plus pool -- begins at 7 p.m. (CDT).
(Running Aces)