Columbus, MN – Running Aces hosted a special Friday afternoon card of harness racing on July 3, featuring a full field of 9 starters for the $6,000 Open for sophomore pacers.
It's A Marcs World (Nick Roland) drew post position eight on the gate and was hammered down in the wagering to 3-5 likely based on his recent win in the Minnesota-Sired A pace on June 27 (1:57.1), while Night Delight (Dean Magee) was well supported at 7-2 from post nine and Bunkerhill Phil (Don Harmon) garnered lukewarm support at 5-1 from post three. Bunkerhill Phil came into the race off of two solid second place finishes to start his 2020 campaign, while he earned 10 wins from 13 races last year as the Champion two year old male pacer in Minnesota.
Night Delight fired fastest from the gate from the far outside draw and easily cleared for command, leading the field all the way into the far turn (:27.2, :58.3 and 1:27.4) before facing strong pressure from Bunkerhill Phil who launched a first-over attack just before the half mile.
Bunkerhill Phil cleared the lead turning for home and Nothinbutagoodtime (Darrel Wright) advanced from the outside cover position while heavy favorite It's A Marcs World was blocked behind the tiring pace-setter. Once clear – It's A Marcs World angled back into the open stretch and flew to the wire – but ran out of racetrack as Bunkerhill Phil had gotten home a winner by a head in a sharp mile and new career mark of 1:55.3. Nothinbutagoodtime was a game third.
Bunkerhill Phil ($12.00) now has 11 career wins and has banked $78,424, he is a gelded son of Vlos out of the Keystone Raider mare River Bend Raider, owned trained by Gene Miller who is also the breeder.
It was another stellar day at the track for all-time Running Aces leader Nick Roland, who won four of eight races on the day and completed two milestones – in race one he registered his 1,700th career driving win and in race two he recorded his 800th Running Aces driving win.
Driver Lemoyne "Moonie" Svendsen also reorded a driving double.
Live Racing returns to Running Aces on Sunday July 5, with first post at 1 pm (CDT) and features a carryover in the Pick-5 Jackpot Wager of $4,096.69.
by Darin Gagne, for Running Aces