Cash Money Twenty rallied from the back of the pack to collect his ninth Open win of the season at Running Aces on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
In this week's $23,611 Open Handicap Pace, Dean Magee was in the bike aboard the very sharp four-year-old son of Stevensville and they floated away in seventh position early to let Handsome Sir (Brian Detgen) and Alta Revelry N (Luke Plano) battle it out for the top while Its Pointless (Nick Roland) also left fast to track the early leaders from third during the opening fractions of :26.4 and :55.2.
Alta Revelry N held court past three-quarters in 1:23 and all the way into the lane while Its Pointless tried a tiring first-over attack and both Cash Money Twenty and Dandys Freedom (Casey Leonard) got rolling from the back of the pack.
The field stacked up as they straightened for the drive and Alta Revelry N still had a short lead, but Cash Money Twenty stormed down the center of the track and Dandys Freedom also flew home on the far outside. Cash Money Twenty surged to the wire to grab the 1:51 victory by three-quarters of a length while Dandys Freedom was a neck better than Alta Revelry after a place photo.
Horseplayers collected $3.20 for the win tickets while Cash Money Twenty rang his seasonal bankroll up to $140,163 for trainer Brett Ballinger and owner Heart & Soul Racing of Des Moines, Iowa.
Heavy favourites Slipped Onmybeans (Dean Magee), trained by Scott Banitt, and Captain Ricky (Casey Leonard), leading a 1-2 finish for the Justin Anfinson stable, both delivered the goods as the division leaders in the $20,833 top Minnesota-sired freshman pacing divisions. Both are sired by Captainryanmichael and posted identical 1:55.2 winning times.
Fossil Fuel, sired by Big Oil, made it two in a row with a 2:01.3 score in the $24,306 Minnesota-sired freshman male trot with trainer/driver Brady Jenson in tow, and Harold Herrera's trainee JRs Starburst, sired by World At War Deo, posted her first career victory in 2:01.1 in the matching filly trot in rein to Casey Leonard.
The other Minnesota-sired freshman winners on the program included Heroic Honor (Nick Roland) in 1:54.4 in the $13,194 male 'B' pace for trainer Regina Hamilton; Arts Finale (Rick Magee) in 1:57.1 the $8,333 male 'C' pace for Mikaela Delgiudice; and Icing On The Cake with a 1:58.2 mile in the $12,194 filly 'B' pace for trainer/driver Nick Roland.
Live harness racing returns to Running Aces for a nine-race program on Thursday, Sept. 3 with post time set for 6 p.m. (CDT).
(With files from Running Aces)