Columbus, MN – Harness racing drivers Nick Roland and Rick Magee each reached career milestones at Running Aces Sunday as Roland scored his 1,500th career win and Magree won his 1,000th career victory.
Nick Roland scored his 1,500th win when he piloted Sing N Sandi to her maiden victory (1:58.2) in race 11 on the program on Sunday, Roland is the all-time leading driver at Running Aces, having made 725 or more trips to the local winner’s circle since the track opened in 2008.
He has been the track’s leading dash winner four times. Nick is also the track’s all-time leading money winner. Nick’ driving career started back in 1998, and he had his best year with wins and U.D.R.S. in 2012 with 140 victories and a very impressive batting average of (.432).
Nick’s best year with purse earnings so far was 2017, with $685,077. In addition to his 1,500 plus victories, Roland has picked up 1,233 seconds and 1,032 thirds for a total of 3,775 top 3 finishes in 7,046 trips to the gate, an impressive average of over 50 percent in the top three.
One of the top horses that Nick has campaigned as both a driver and trainer is Firedrake, a winner of 22 of 52 lifetime starts and winner of the 2017 Dan Patch FFA pace at Running Aces, and runner up this year, after just missing the repeat championship by a neck in 1:51.1 on Sunday (July 22). Along with catch-driving, Nick trains a stable of around 15 horses with his longtime girlfriend Jessica Johnson.
For driver Rick Magee he steered Bringoverthemoney to his fourth win in a row to pick up his 1,000th career driving victory in race 1 on Sunday (July 15).
Rick is currently second in all time statistics at Running Aces, and he has picked up 558 of his career wins right here at the Minnesota oval. Rick started his driving career in 2002, but it really took off when Running Aces opened in 2008. His best year so far with wins was 2009 with 139, and his best year both in U.D.R.S. and purses was 2016 with an average of .372 and earnings of $531,179.
Rick has campaigned many good horses over the years at Running Aces, and currently trains a stable of around a dozen horses with his longtime girlfriend Mikaela Del Giudice, their roster currently includes standout pacers Stevensville, and Hawk's Red Chief, both of them competing at the highest level this season, and both also competing in the 2018 Dan Patch FFA.
by Darin Gagne', for Running Aces