The Sunday night (August 27) harness racing program at Running Aces saw alot of amazing performances, but none more impressive than that of Driver Luke Plano, who picked up a total of 6 wins on the program, 5 as a driver and a total of 4 as a trainer (one of his winning trainees had a different driver up, as he had two in one race).
Plano started the winning off early, picking up win number one in the first race on the card with La Madawna De Rosa ($5.40) in 1:55.2 for trainer John Rogers.
He was second by less than a length in Race two with Dougs Hobby Horse for trainer Rick Bertrand, and he was back in the winner's circle after Race three with his own trainee Pa's Corn Squeezin to light up the board ($61.00), and take a new lifetime mark of 1:55.1 for Owner Dave Haness.
In Race 4 Plano's trainees picked up 1st and 3rd, as Nick Roland guided Plano trainee Moon Is On Fire ($14.00) to victory in 1:56.4, again for owner Dave Haness. Luke was aboard Yeswellnomaybe and checked in third by two lengths.
Luke took a short break for Race 5 but was right back at it in Race 6, and right back to the winner's circle with AllmyX'sliveNTexas ($4.40) in 1:55.1 for trainer Bob Johnson.
Next, Luke picked up a third driving Rusty Carter in Race 7 for trainer George Reider, then he was 2nd in Race 8 with Al Mar Money Glide for trainer Brady Jenson.
In the featured 9th Race, Plano guided 22-1 longshot Bettors Promise to a good 3rd place finish for trainer Timothy Brown.
Then in Race 10 Luke Plano was back to winning, as he guided his own trainee Barbosa ($6.20) to a 1:54.4 score for two wins in a row.
Race 11 belonged to Plano as well, as he posted a sharp victory with his trainee Dinneratartsplace ($3.80) in 1:56.3 for wife Nikki Hudson.
Final score for Luke Plano on Sunday at Running Aces: started in 10 of 11 races, 5 driving wins, 4 training wins, 2 driving seconds, and 3 driving thirds. A fantastic and very impressive night. Plano is having his best year ever at Running Aces, and is currently 3rd in the drivers standings with 55 wins and a UDRS close to .300. He has been the leading driver at Cal Expo in California for the past several years.
The Sunday night feature was the $11,000 Open Handicap Pace for Horses & Geldings and Bestinthebusiness ($5.00) made it 3 wins in a row, scoring in 1:51.4 with James Yoder in the bike for trainer Gene Miller and owners Brett Boyd Racing, while Firedrake (Nick Roland) was just a head back in second and Bettor's Promise (Luke Plano) was in home in third.
The $13,000 Minnesota Sired 3 Year old Trot went to Its Stormin Money ($11.40) in 2:02 with Steve Wiseman driving for trainer Brady Jenson and owner Bryce Jenson.
Live Racing at Running Aces continues every Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday night through September 16.
By Darin Gagné, Running Aces Track Announcer