The featured event on the Tuesday afternoon (Sept. 22) program at Running Aces was the Minnesota-Sired freshman pace with three divisions and a total purse of $23,000.
The $8,625 Colts and Geldings division was headlined by heavy favourite Twilight Sunset (Rick Magee, 1-5), who was trying to maintain unbeaten status and in search of his fifth consecutive win in as many career starts. The clear second choice in the seven horse contest was Alilthundadownunda (Nick Roland, 3-1).
Rick Magee fired fastest of all off of the gate from post seven with the favorite, quickly establishing the lead over longshot SD Watch Me Now and Marc In The Box. Nick Roland took back to fourth from post 1 with Alilthundadownunda and sat patiently through early fractions of :28 and :58.3.
Marc In The Box pulled first-up down the backside and applied moderate pressure to the leader before dropping back midway through the last turn, while Alilthundadownunda tipped three-wide with plenty of pace as they rounded for home.
Twilight Sunset dug in gamely but was unable to fend off Alilthundadownunda ($8.60), who got a neck in front on the line in 1:56.3 for his first win.
The winner is a gelded son of Malak Uswaad N owned by Set The Pace Racing LLC and trained by Jessica Johnson.
The $8,625 "A" spilt of the freshman pacing fillies went to Shes A Showstopper (Jacob Cutting, $13.40) in 1:58.2 for her third win. The Its That Time filly is owned by Van Otterloo Stables and trained by Gordon Graham. Of Great Worth was home second, just ahead of race favourite May Day Maggie.
The $5,750 "B" split went to Muffin Top (Braxten Boyd, $3.60) who rallied from off the pace and drew away late to post her first win by two-and-a-quarter lengths in 1:59.1. The daughter of Vlos is owned and trained by her breeder Wendy Haberberg. Tootsiesonaterror was second and JK Saving Grace was third.
Driver Jacob Cutting led the program with two wins, registering his third-consecutive driving double.
The 20-cent Pick 5 Jackpot Carryover is now at $13,809.00
Live Racing continues at Running Aces through Oct. 4, with action four days a week at 1:00 p.m. (CDT).
(Running Aces)