Driver Jim Marino, a resident of British Columbia, Canada posted his 2,000th career driving win at Running Aces Casino & Racetrack on Saturday night, July 16 when he piloted Stuckey Dote ($12.80) to victory in the $15,000 Minnesota-Sired 3 year old pace in a 1:55.2 lifetime mark.
The milestone win was the product of a second-over trip and a 3-wide move at the ¾ pole, placing his charge Stuckey Dote in perfect position to sweep by the pace-setter Cyrax (Brian Detgen) in the homestretch and score the win by 1 ¼ lengths.
Marino is 40 years old, and has been driving since 1998, he won his first race in 1999, and has not looked back since. He recorded his best year in 2012, when he posted 192 wins and nearly $1.3 million in purses.
Jim has been among the top drivers throughout his home province of British Columbia for many years, including hundreds and hundreds of trips to the Fraser Downs winners circle. In addition to his 2000 wins, he has now accumulated nearly $11 million in career purse earnings.
Marino has raced in the United States in the past, in fact he recorded his 1,000th win at Cal Expo Harness in 2009, but this is the first year he has competed at Running Aces in Minnesota. Jim has been a welcome addition to the great and talented driving colony here, and we certainly hope to see him coming back here in future seasons.
I spoke with Jim after his milestone win and he told me that he was very happy to have been able to achieve the milestone here at Running Aces, at what he described as a "first class facility"Ā and he also said the drivers here have welcomed him and been very supportive.
Marino also told me he was "happy to get it off his back (so to speak)"Ā so he can just concentrate on his regular daily routine without the pressure of a milestone win upon him. But my guess is, it won’t be too long before he will be feeling that pressure again as this very talented horseman will continue to achieve great things in the sulky sport.
Jim Marino qualified in June for the national driving championship in Canada this fall, which could potentially lead him to the 2017 World Driving Championship. We certainly wish him good luck on October 14 at Western Fair.
Jim will be joining me as my guest interview on the Running Aces segment on Post Time with Mike & Mike next Thursday night, 7:00 pm EDT when we will learn more about his start in Harness Racing and talk about his big milestone tonight, and his participation in the Regional and National driving championships.
Also on Saturday we celebrated the great Dan Patch who hailed from Savage, Minnesota and set his long-standing world record of 1:55 at the Minnesota State Fair exactly 90 years ago.
The Dan Patch historical society was on hand for the event, with winning drivers tossing Tee-shirts from the Winners circle, plus drawings and other festivities.
On the racetrack, Firedrake ($6.40) was sharp from gate-to-wire in the The $7,000 Minnesota Sired or Owned colts & geldings conditioned pace, which was one of the Dan Patch days feature races. Trainer/driver Nick Roland sent Firedrake away alertly from post six, quickly taking the lead, and controlling the contest through fractions of 27.4, 58.1 and 1:26.2 before charging home in 29.0 pulling away from the field with every stride in the 1:55.2 mile.
This nice 3 year old gelding is by Dragon Again out of the Artsplace mare Everything’s Easy, has now won 4 of 9 lifetime starts, he is owned by Set the Pace Racing, LLC.
The other Dan Patch featured pacing event was the $7,000 Minnesota Sired or Owned Fillies & Mares conditioned pace, and it was American Dancer ($5.60) who did not disappoint as the 9-5 favorite with driver Luke Plano in the bike.
Plano got her away in the pocket from post 5, and waited patiently for the stretch, where they were able to pull away from the field to win by 4 lengths in 1:55.0, a new lifetime mark for the filly by General Aidid, owned by Timothy Lems and trained by Robert Lems.
The $15,000 3 year old Minnesota-Sired Open Pace went to Stuckey Dote ($12.80) with driver Jim Marino in the sulky in a new life’s mark of 1:55.2 for Owner/Trainer Merlin Van Oterloo. It was the 8th lifetime win for Stuckey Dote, and the 2000th career driving tally for driver Jim Marino.
Driver Nick Roland had a big night as well as he posted a Grand-Slam, also piloting winners Dagmar ($11.00) in 1:59.4, Bettor’s Promise ($3.80) in 1:53.3 and Mint to Cruise ($5.00) in 1:58.
by Darin Gagne, for Running Aces