Beating the boys is one thing, but it is something else when a mare does it in track-record time.
Show Runner paced the second fastest mile in the eight-year history of Running Aces on Tuesday night (July 7). She eclipsing the track record for females by better than one full second with her 1:51 clocking. The five-year-old daughter of Little Steven, owned by Piece Of The Action LLC, was facing all male competition in the featured $8,000 Open I Handicap that kicked off the program with a bang.
Driver Tim Maier had Show Runner in gear early, as the pair left to the lead alertly before yielding to last week’s winner, Headsup Yankee (driven by Nick Roland), just before the :27.2 quarter. An early move by Chewy Baca (Gerry Longo), the eventual show finisher, flushed Show Runner from the pocket early and she sped back to the front at the :55 halfway station. Still showing her heels to the field, the George Reider trainee tripped the three-quarters beam in 1:22.2, then glided through a closing :27.3 panel to hold off Headsup Yankee by one length in the track record clocking.
It was the 38th win in just 70 lifetime starts for Show Runner and increased her career bankroll to $230,350.
For the seventh consecutive program, the 50-cent Pick 6 went unsolved, largely due to driver Tony Succarotte’s back-to-back wins in the late daily double races (which are also the last two legs of the Pick 6). Succarotte guided Wendy Haberberg’s Ya U Bet Cha to a 1:55.1 triumph, returning $9.00 to win; then eked out a 1:56 score with Gene Miller’s Ben N Al in the nightcap at odds of 24-1.
As a result, Running Aces is estimating the Wednesday (July 8) 50-cent Pick 6 pool at $25,000. The exotic wager will be based on Race 3 through Race 8 on the card that begins at 7 p.m. (CDT).
(With files from Running Aces)