The Tuesday night (Aug. 29) harness racing program at Running Aces featured two divisions of the $36,500 Minnesota-sired freshman trot and DP Freedoms Chrome stole the show with his second straight local winning performance.
Starting from the outside nine post, driver James Gould floated the star square-gaiter away from the gate in fifth position as Bankers Quest (Mooney Svendsen) and stablemate Insurrectionist (Luke Plano) both left fast from the inside posts. Bankers Quest put up the fractions of :29.2, 1:00.1 and 1:29.4 while Scoot Scoot (Gerald Longo) went first-up and DP Freedoms Chrome followed cover.
Heading into the final turn, Gould sent DP Freedoms Chrome three-wide and they quickly drew alongside the leader as the field rounded for home. In the lane, Insurrectionist shook free from the pocket but DP Freedoms Chrome was gone. He had taken a clear lead as they straightened away and opened up with every stride through deep stretch to post an 8-1/4-length score over Insurrectionist in 2:00, with Bankers Quest holding for third money.
The impressive son of For You Almostfree is now a perfect eight-for-eight in his career for owner Aimes Racing and trainer Elvin Zimmerman. David Bontrager is the winning breeder. He paid $5 to win.
Baby Flash posted her 12th career win from 13 starts with a sharp 2-3/4-length score in the sophomore filly division in 2:01.4.
Driver Chad Svendsen was content to float away in fourth and waited patiently while Bankers Grace (Rick Magee) made the fractions (:29.1, 1:00.3, 1:31) and Wisco On A Mission (Jacob Cutting) rode in the pocket.
In the far turn, Svendsen made his move with Baby Flash and they quickly swept by the leaders while Bankers Grace made a miscue at the top of the field.
Baby Flash trotted strong through the lane and kicked clear late while Magnolia Moonlight (Chip Lackey) picked up the pieces for second and Al Mar Puredelight (Todd Warren) rallied from the back for third.
The winner is a daughter of Southwind Flash and is trained by Rick Huffman, who also shares ownership with Brenda Lovetinsky and Penny Lundell. Baby Flash paid $4.40 to win.
American Dreamer made his way back to the Gulf Shores winner’s circle at Running Aces after a sharp effort in the $17,600 Open Handicap Pace for his seventh win of the season.
Driver Todd Warren sent the nine-year-old son of American Ideal to the front from post nine and then yielded briefly as PD The Big Easy (Kevin Wallis) went past near the half-mile marker. American Dreamer moved right back to the front as they headed down the backside and led comfortably all the way into deep-stretch before Macs Marvel came charging after the leader late. American Dreamer dug in gamely and held on to win by a head over Macs Marvel in 1:52 while Bizys Beatle rallied for third money.
The winner is owned by Wilson Racing, Ann Calvert and Mark Eichberger and is trained by Tim Wilson Jr. along with assistant Jenni De Menge. American Dreamer paid $5.60 to win.
Drivers Dean Magee, Rick Magee and Todd Warren all posted doubles on the Tuesday program.
One sharp and lucky player was able to solve the 20-cent Pick-5 Jackpot sequence on Tuesday night at Running Aces to collect a hefty payout of $17,669.40. The sequence started off with a 14-1 winner (Stuckey Dote, Rick Magee) in race five and then saw subsequent winners of 6-5 (Shelter In Pace, Todd Warren) and 9-5 (American Dreamer, Todd Warren) before two more longshot winners came along in the final two races, including 18-1 Ynotthishos (Rick Magee) and 8-1 Super Mac (Dean Magee 8-1).
In addition to the Jackpot payout in the Pick-5, all of the late multi-race wagers payed handsomely as well. The 50-cent Late Pick-4 returned $1,155, while the 50-cent Pick-3 return was $288.40 and the 50-cent Late Double gave back $149.25.
The Hi-5 wager in race nine had no winners, which resulted in a carryover of $844.67 for Thursday's race four Hi-5 offering.
Post time for the nine-race card on Thursday is 7 p.m. (CDT).
(With files from Running Aces)