The Friday night (September 18) harness racing program at Running Aces featured three $15,000 Championship consolation events for pacers as part of the 10-race program to kick off closing weekend of the 2021 season.
The $15,000 consolation event for four-year-old & up male pacers went to the heavy favourite Its A Marcs World ($3.20) with trainer Nick Roland in the sulky for owners Royal Roland and Carol Polkowske. Roland was unhurried from the gate with Its A Marcs World and floated away sixth from post four in the nine horse affair through the quick :27.3 opening panel. Roland activated the four-year-old son of Marced Card near the three-eighths marker and he quickly brushed to the lead and led the field down the backstretch after passing the half in :57.3, but soon faced a very strong challenge from Deweydiddonegood (Dean Magee) who came first over. The top two were locked in deep battle all the way into mid-stretch before Its A Marcs World was able to draw away by 2-1/4 lengths at the wire. Dance Traveler (Brady Jenson) was flying up the inside late to just nose out Deweydiddonegood for second with Dream Chasin (Jacob Cutting) a close fourth in the 1:53.3 mile.
It was the second win of the season and 13th career score for Its A Marcs World, who was bred by Connie and Duane Roland.
The $15,000 sophomore filly pace consolation event went to Marced In Faith (Brady Jenson, $3.60) who is also by Marced Card. Jenson got away third in a six-horse contest and waited patiently as Marced Debutante (Mooney Svendsen) made the pace and Wild Angel (Nick Roland) sat in the pocket. As the field turned in for home, Jenson guided Marced In Faith to the centre of the track and she exploded with pace. She quickly took the lead and then drew away with authority to post a 4-3/4 length tally in a career best 1:56.4 for her third career win. The winner is owned by Jason and Sally Ludwig and Jenson is also the winning trainer. The winning breeders are Duane and Connie Roland.
The $15,000 freshman consolation pace featured two fillies and two geldings, and Night King (Nick Roland, $2.80) turned in a gate-to-wire score in 1:59.2 to deliver as the heavy favourite, while stablemate Mr Vlos (Adam Hauser) rallied past Windy Island (Jacob Cutting) to pick up second money. The top two finishers are both trained by Roland. The winner is owned by Michael Wolf and breeder Set The Pace Racing.
The $13,800 Open Pace went to Numbered Account (Dean Magee, $5.00) in 1:52.4 for his second straight open win. He took control just past the quarter mile and was never in doubt once on the lead. Hoo Nien A (Gerald Longo) rallied for second while Parklane Jet (Jacob Cutting) also closed from the back of the pack for third. The winner is owned by Cathy Dessert and trained by Justin Anfinson.
The $13,800 Open Handicap Trot went to race favourite All American N (Luke Plano) in 1:56 for his ninth win of the season. Plano went right to the lead with All American N and was never under pressure. He held gamely to the wire for a half-length tally over Mind Yown Business (Dean Magee) with Pridecrest (Mooney Svendsen) checking in third.
The $13,800 Mares Open Handicap pace went to Rockin With Lou (Dean Magee, $9.60) in 1:53.4 for her seventh win of the year. Magee took the lead just past the three-eighths juncture and they were never in doubt after that, posting a solid tally by one length over Shesureissomething (Jacob Cutting) who rallied from last to take second, with Anna B (Brady Jenson) also closing from the back to get third. The winner is a four-year-old daughter of Sweet Lou and she is owned and trained by Gerald Longo.
Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Saturday (September 18) which will close out the 2021 season with the Annual Night of Champions program, featuring $560,000 in purses across the twelve Championship races. There is a $7,500 Guaranteed pool for the 20 cent Pick-5 which also has carryover money of $2,817.34 and is subject to mandatory payout. The Late Pick-4, Late Pick-3 and Race 12 Hi-5 wagers are also subject to mandatory payouts on Saturday.
In addition to the championship-level racing, there will be a live performance of the National Anthem by Steve May, live bugle calls to the post by Ken Walker and special guest Ken Terpenning on the live broadcast. There will also be many local and state-level dignitaries on hand making trophy presentations to the race winners throughout the night.
Racing fans will have a chance to win betting vouchers with four drawings to be held throughout the evening.
The winners of the free breeding fees for Karpathian Kid and Quality Kemp from photo-finish sponsor Dan-Jer Farms will be drawn and announced during the night as well.
Post time for the first race on Saturday is 6:05 p.m. (CDT).
(Running Aces)