Fox Valley Nemitz takes feature in 1:52

The Saturday evening (June 8) program of harness racing at Running Aces was jam packed with exciting contests. One of the most highly anticipated of all was the $11,500 Minnesota-Sired 3 Year Old Colt Pace, and it did not disappoint. Among the talented field of sophomore male pacers was 2018 Minnesota Horse of the Year Burning Blaze (Steve Wiseman), and also 2019 early standouts SB Bodacious (Rick Magee) and Stay Humble N Kind (Gerald Longo).

SB Bodacious ($4.20) served notice right off the gate that he was a force to be reckoned with, blasting from post five to an immediate lead, before yielding to fellow leaver Trump Train (Don Harmon).

The fractions were lively – :27.1 and :55.4 for the opening half – and Rick Magee wasted no time in getting SB Bodacious back to the front of affairs, sweeping back to the top just past the five-eighths marker. Stay Humble N Kind got rolling from the back of the pack as they hit three-quarters in 1:24.3 and began to give chase to the leader, while Burning Blaze had gotten the Colombus shuffle and finally was able to shake free near the top of the lane.

The chase was futile for all his rivals, because SB Bodacious was in full flight for the wire, pacing home in :27.4 and stopping the timer in a dazzling 1:52.2 to just miss a track record by a few ticks. Stay Humble N Kind was clearly second best tonight while Burning Blaze salvaged third after a troubled trip.

SB Bodacious is a gelded son of Voracious Hanover out of the Western Hanover mare Salsa Hanover, he is now 3 for 4 in 2019 with his only defeat coming last out when he was a close second. He has lowered his lifetime mark with each victory, and dropped over 3 seconds with Saturday's impressive win. Mikaela DelGiudice is the winning owner, and Rick Magee also does the training.

The $11,500 Filly Pace for MN-Sired 3 year olds was everything it was advertised to be – another dominating win for super-filly Windmeupnwatchmego – who is now a perfect 3-for-3 in 2019. Driver Dean Magee sent her hard and fast from her assigned outside six post and she battled early with Trinitysfancyfilly (Brian Detgen) before making the top, once she cleared it was all over. She took the girls on a merry stroll around the track and posted a 5¾ length romp in 1:55.1 with plenty left in the tank. As of this early point in the season, she stands out well above her rivals – they look to be in for a long summer. The winner paid just $2.10 at the windows. She is owned by Richard Davelaar and trained by Gordon Graham.

The $15,000 Open Handicap Pace for horses and geldings was the feature on the Saturday card. Stuckey Dote (Rick Magee) was the race favorite at 3-5 after a great start to his 2019 Running Aces campaign. Longshots War Daddy (Williams Hernandez) and Liberty Flyer (Mark Mintun) blasted out of the gate along with Stuckey Dote and the scramble was on for the front, resulting in a :26.3 bullet opener. Stuckey Dote cleared well before the half and posted strong middle fractions (:55.1, and 1:23.4) but the torrid pace took it's toll and the back markers took advantage of the fast fractions and came rolling in the lane. Fox Valley Nemitz (Tim Maier) was fastest of all to the wire in 1:52 for his third win in five starts, he was a length ahead of Annihilator (Dean Magee) and Stuckey Dote was home third by 1 1/4 after a good effort. Fox Valley Nemitz is owned by Susan Holm-Johansen and trained by Ulf Holm-Johansen. The 5 year old son of Richess Hanover paid $9.40 at the windows.

Driver Tim Maier posted his third Hat-Trick of the season and remains the only driver to win more than two races on any card this year. With the three wins on Saturday Maier has now vaulted from second to first in the Leading Driver standings, just one ahead of Dean Magee.

Live Racing returns to Running Aces on Sunday, June 9 with a trio of Carryovers: the 50 cent early Pick-4 has a carryover of $594.07, The 20 cent Pick-5 is at $5,047.49 and the 50 cent Hi-5 stands at $926.35. First Post is at 6:00 pm (CDT)

By Darin Gagne, for Running Aces Casino, Hotel & Racetrack