Mother Mary stole the show at Running Aces on Thursday, Aug. 7 with a sensational victory in the $21,528 Mares Open Handicap Pace to become the fastest pacing mare ever at the Minnesota oval.
In Thursday's main event, Mother Mary (Rick Magee) and Twist Little Girl N (Mooney Svendsen) battled for the early lead with the latter landing on top through a blistering :25.4 opening quarter while Deja Vu Babyboo (Luke Plano) landed in third and Kizzmelikeumissme (Dean Magee) traveled in fourth early.
Twist Little Girl N dictated the terms in the middle stages in :54.1 and 1:22.1 and still had the lead as they swung for home but Mother Mary was loaded with pace from the pocket and exploded through the lane while Deja Vu Babyboo shook free to be second best and JK My Girl (Nick Roland) rallied from the back of the pack to grab third money.
Mother Mary ($4.80) now shows five wins from 11 starts this year and 16 career wins with $116,273 in earnings for owner/breeder Joe Casagranda. The daughter of Rockin Image is trained by Mikaela Del Giudice.
The previous track record of 1:51 was co-held by Show Runner and Maggie Rhee.
Josiah Miller's Evil L ($3.60) and driver Rick Magee captured the $12,500 Open Handicap Pace for three-year-olds with a half-length tally in 1:55.2. Skoochs Valentine (Dean Magee) and Tutto Bene (Mooney Svensden) rounded out the top three.
Rick Magee led the program with three driving wins while Josiah Miller had a training double.
Live harness returns to Running Aces on Sunday, Aug. 10 for Pepsi Family Night with a 12-race program starting at 6 p.m. (CDT).
(Running Aces)