The Friday, Sept. 15 harness racing program at Running Aces featured two Minnesota-sired consolation events as well as two Open Handicap races, and the favourites were unable to deliver in any of the four featured races.
Sent off at 49-1, Overtheedgeofhonor and driver Dean Magee pulled off a last-to-first sweep of the field to take the $15,000 older male pacers consolation in a career best 1:53.4.
He Grins Again (Luke Plano) and heavy favourite Its A Marcs World (Nick Roland) traded turns on the lead and posted fast early fractions of :27 and :56.2 which set the stage for the big closing effort by Overtheedgeofhonor to light up the board, getting home a neck better than Its A Marcs World and paying $101.40.
Stuckey Dote (Rick Magee) got clearance very late in the mile and rallied for third, beaten just one length in his final career start.
Overtheedgeofhonor is owned by trainer Greg Budach as well as Royal Roland and Carol Polkowske.
Totally Easy (Rick Magee, $23.40) posted a dominating gate-to-wire effort in the $15,000 freshman male pacers consolation, delivering a 10-1 return to his backers.
The impressive son of Easy Again always looked comfortable and had no trouble fending off a sustained challenge from race favourite Boom Boom Bullseye (Kevin Wallis). Totally Easy opened up late to win by three lengths in 1:57 while The Big Aristotle (Todd Warren) rallied from the back of the pack to capture second money in a photo finish with Boom Boom Bullseye.
The winner is owned by Kevin Magee and is also trained by Rick Magee.
Scorecard Dan (Jacob Cutting, $39.20) provided longshot lovers another thrill in the $17,600 Open Handicap Trot, turning in a very impressive first-over effort to take the lead rounding the far turn and then hold on gamely by a neck over Winnerup (Plano) in 1:55.1 while Perlucky was a close third.
The winner is a four-year-old by Dover Dan and is owned by Green Acres, Mike Kilmas and David Nielsen and is trained by Nathalie Tremblay.
Aint She Special (Plano, $9.60) took the winner's bow in the $17,600 Mares Open Handicap Pace for her ninth career tally.
Plano made an early move to the front and was settled on top before the half-mile and led comfortably through the middle of the affair while turning back a first-up challenge from Wonder Of Love (Rick Magee). In the lane, Aint She Special continued to pace strong and held gamely to check in a neck better than fast-closing Lucky Lil Lady in 1:53.1 while early leader Graceful Horizon (Roland) was home third.
The winner is a four-year-old daughter of American Ideal, co-owned by Dave Haness with trainer Plano.
Live racing returns to Running Aces on Saturday, Sept. 16 for the Night Of Champions, which will close out the 2023 Aces season with a 12-race program boasting total purses of $780,000. There will be mandatory payouts in all of the exotic wagers on Saturday night.
(Running Aces)