Odds-on favourite Speaking Volumes overcame his outside post assignment and led at every call en route to victory in the $19,932 Open Handicap Pace on Tuesday, July 8 at Running Aces.
Speaking Volumes was the public choice at 6-5 in the Open after a solid second-place showing in last week’s edition in a fast 1:50 mile, which was won by War Machine, who was a late scratch in this week’s affair.
Driver Rick Magee wasted no time in sending Speaking Volumnes into action and the five-year-old Artspeak-Voluminous gelding easily grabbed command of the contest to post opening fractions of :27.1 and :57.2 while PD The Big Easy (Brady Jenson) landed in the pocket and Alilthundadownunda (Nick Roland) was lined up in third.
Macs Marvel (Luke Plano) initially floated away sixth and last before launching a first-over bid near the three-eighths juncture. Down the backside, Macs Marvel provided some mid-race pressure to the leader and Always Andrew (Billy Mann) followed his cover. The field was tightly packed as they rounded past the three-quarter mark in 1:25.1 with Speaking Volumes still going strong.
In the lane, the pacers fanned across the track to pursue the leader but Speaking Volumes had plenty left and sealed the deal with a :27.4 final quarter while Alilthundadownunda rallied late inside to grab second money and PD The Big Easy checked home third in the 1:53 mile.
The win was the second on the season in a dozen starts for Speaking Volumes, who returned $4.40 to win. Brady JEson trains the pacer for owner Little Bapa.
Tuesday's card included six divisions of Minnesota-sired freshman trotters and pacers.
Cool Mr Cool (Wind Me Up-World Of Her Own) posted his first career win in the $20,270 freshman colt ‘A’ pace with a sparkling 1:56.1 tally by 2-1/4 lengths over pacesetter Set Free (Rick Magee) and Memorialized (Billy Mann). Nick Roland was the winning driver and worked out a perfect journey for Cool Mr Cool, who appeared to have far more to give after the impressive score for trainer Justin Anfinson and owner Kyle Larner. He returned $27.40 for the upset win.
Starstruck Fool delivered a sharp gate-to-wire effort for her second straight win in the freshman filly ‘A’ pace, taking a new career mark of 1:57.3 over Squeez Master (Mann) and Hilarious Hannah (Jenson). Driven by Nick Roland, the popular winner is a daughter of Karpathian Kid out of Lovin A Fool, trained by Lino Pacheco and owned by Jeri and Briar Roland.
Favourite Al Mar Flash Over did not disappoint her many backers as she provided a coast-to-coast effort in 2:02.4 to advance to three-for-three lifetime for trainer/driver Nick Roland while Wisco Moni Heist (Sean Smithpeters) was second best and Wyoming Bound (Scott Cisco) was home in third in the $28,378 freshman ‘A’ trot. The daughter of Southwind Flash out of Vestal Hanover is owned by Thomas and Kathy Shipley and Royal Roland.
The other freshman winners included Swinging On Over (Roland) in the $13,514 pacing colt ‘B’ division, Thiskidcanfly (Luke Plano) in the $13,514 filly ‘B’ pace in 2:02.1 and SV Rough And Tough (Chad Svendsen) in the $18,919 freshman ‘B’ trot in 2:03.3.
Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Thursday, July 10 with a 12-race program that will get underway at 6 p.m. (CDT).
(With files from Running Aces)