The $8,000 Minnesota-Sired 3 year old pacing fillies event went to post as the co-feature on the Harness Racing card at Running Aces with 8 fillies going to battle, and it proved to be a sparkling performance by Whatitdobabyboo ($2.80) who reminded local fans of her tremendous late speed by sweeping the field from last to first once again, taking a new life mark (1:57.4) in the process. Driver Rick Magee guided her away from the gate to the trailing position early and sat through the early fractions of 29.0 and 59.4 before tipping to the outside fourth-over just past the half mile pole. From there, he tipped his filly 3-wide around the final turn past the 1:27.4 check-in and was easily able to gun down the breakaway leader Free Radical (Nick Roland) and score the win by 2 ¾ lengths in her first start of the season.
David Flinn trains the daughter of Voracious Hanover for the Van Oterloo stables. Tonight’s tally was her 8th lifetime score in 10 career tries and padded her bankroll to $43,560.
In the $8,000 Minnesota-Sired 3 year old geldings pace it was Wonder Bull who pulled off a mild upset ($11.40) in the 7 horse contest with a sharp closing effort to get up at the wire by a neck in an eye opening 1:54.3, shattering his previous mark by nearly 9 seconds. Steves Hot Rod was sharp in defeat as the runner up with Joe Casagranda in the bike. Wonder Bull is owned by Rick and Lesa Peters and trained and driven by Nick Roland. The son of Artisitc Wonder now sports 4 lifetime wins and $25,203 in earnings.
Also on the Saturday card was a very nice $6,000 conditioned pace for horses and geldings, and Lil Orphan Elmer ($5.80) was the star of the show in that affair. Sent off as the 9-5 wagering choice, Elmer was floated off the gate in fifth position early in a fast early pace of 27.3, driver Steve Wiseman got him moving in a nice second-over spot just past the half, and had him in a perfect striking position around the final turn before letting him loose in the stretch, where he gamely battled between horses to take the top prize in 1:54.2 Lil Orphan Elmer is owned by Scott Ehrlich and George Mc Chrystal and trained by Kathie Plested-Wiseman. It was the 3rd win of the season and 17th lifetime tally for the career winner of $61,978.
Drivers Luke Plano and Nick Roland both picked up driving doubles on the 9 race card.
Running Aces is back in action on Sunday, May 28th with a first race post of 6:00 pm CDT.
By Darin Gagne, Running Aces Track Announcer