The card of harness racing at Running Aces on Thursday, July 31 featured the top distaffers in Minnesota with a field of seven going into battle for the $21,233 Mares Open Handicap Pace.
Twist Little Girl N and driver Mooney Svendsen wasted no time asserting themselves, charging off the gate from post three to take command early and force the rest of the field to take a seat while posting moderate early fractions of :27.3 and :56.4.
Scorecard Dandy (Dean Magee) got away in the pocket and tracked the leader intently while JK My Girl (Nick Roland) also left quickly and then ducked in to follow the leaders from third.
Deja Vu Babyboo (Billy Mann) made a first-over bid down the backside with Ideal Skies (Brady Jenson) following the cover flow, but neither was able to draw close to the leaders.
Twist Little Girl N kept on rolling and kicked it up another notch with a :27.2 third panel to open up by two lengths near the top of the stretch. She continued going strong in the lane and dug in impressively to hold off a deep stretch bid from pocket-sitter Scorecard Dandy while JK My Girl was third best.
Twist Little Girl N ($5.40) checked home three-quarters of a length ahead in the 1:51.4 mile, which was a seasonal best for the six-year-old daughter of Vincent. She now shows three wins this season and 15 career wins for owners Dave Dobbelmann and Cathy Dessert. Edwin Quevedo handles the training.
Wind Me Up Blue ($3.20) and driver Scott Cisco delivered another big performance for two in a row in the $21,918 sophomore boys 'A' pace, taking a new career mark with a 1:54.3 score over Swinging On By (D. Magee) and Tutto Bene (Svendsen). The sharp son of Wind Me Up now shows four career wins from 11 starts for owner/trainer Rick Cisco and additional owner Tamara Wainscott.
Skoochs Valentine ($45.40) posted a career best 1:54.3 mile for trainer Lino Pacheco and driver Dean Magee to capture glory in the $21,918 filly 'A' pace over Miss May Bell (Jenson) and Mele Kalikimaka (Rick Magee).
The winner is by Karpathian Kid and is owned by Ron Rettig-Zucchi.
Dean Magee led the night with four driving wins while Rick Magee and Josiah Miller and trainers Elson Miller and Brett Ballinger all had doubles.
Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Sunday, Aug. 3 and will feature the rescheduled Dan Patch FFA Pace. First post is set for 6 p.m. (CDT).
(Running Aces)