2024 Minnesota sophomore award winners announced

Columbus, MN – Minnesota Harness Racing Inc. has named the 2024 sophomore award winners.

The announcements are being made ahead of the MHRI annual meeting and Awards Banquet which will be held on Saturday (February 22) at Running Aces Casino, Hotel and Racetrack.

𝐀𝐥-𝐌𝐚𝐫 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 is the 2024 sophomore trotting filly Champion. She is a daughter of Southwind Flash and was bred by Al-Mar Farms and is owned by Jay and Eric De Long and Terry Knothe and is trained by Justin Anfinson.

Al-Mar Puredelight was a winner on Night of Champions in 1:59.1 and she took her sophomore mark of 1:58.3 on August 4 with regular pilot Todd Warren in tow.

She had 4 wins from fourteen starts and earned $66,380 at Running Aces and had an overall summary of 18-4-4-4 and $69,680.

𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 is the sophomore trotting filly Runner-Up. She is also a daughter of Southwind Flash and was bred by Dennis Bontrager and is owned by the partnership of trainer Rick Huffman, Keith Wilson and Brenda Lovetinsky.

Baby Flash posted 5 wins and earned $62,415 from eleven starts at Running Aces, taking her sophomore mark with a track record 1:56.4 mile on September 8 with regular pilot Mooney Svendsen in the sulky.

𝐃𝐏 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐞 is the sophomore male trotting Champion. He is a son of For You Almostfree and was bred by David Bontrager and is owned by Aimes Racing and trained by Elvin Zimmerman.

DP Freedoms Chrome remains undefeated at Running Aces in 15 races. He was a dominating winner on 2024 Night of Champions in 1:56.2 and set a sparkling track record of 1:54 on September 9. James Gould is his regular driver at Running Aces.

He had 11 wins at Aces in 2024 and set a new seasonal earnings record in the Minnesota program of $124,000. He closed out his 2024 season with an overall total of 14 wins and earnings of $177,885.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐢𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐞𝐬 is the sophomore male trotting Runner-Up. He is a son of Tamarind and is owned and trained by his breeder Alexia Kehl.

Wherever Rio Goes had 2 wins from fifteen starts at Running Aces, taking his sophomore mark of 1:57.4 on August 25 with regular pilot Sean Smithpeters in the bike.

In addition to his two wins, he posted six seconds and his Running Aces summary was 15-2-6-1 with earnings of $47,775.

𝐃𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐕𝐮 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨 is the sophomore pacing filly Champion. She is a daughter of Karpathian Kid and is owned by her breeders Van Otterloo Stables and trained at Running Aces by Bob Lems.

Deja Vu Babyboo was a hard charging winner on Night of Champions in 1:54.4 and took her sophomore mark of 1:53.1 on September 9 with driver Nick Roland.

She had 4 wins and ten top-three finishes from 12 Running Aces starts, and earned $81,010 at Aces. She closed out her 2024 campaign with an overall summary of 19-6-5-4 and $93,657.

𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞 is the sophomore pacing filly Runner-Up. She is a daughter of Wind Me Up and is owned by her breeder Jay De Long and trained by Justin Anfinson.

Delco Irene was a close second on Night of Champions and took her sophomore mark of 1:53.2 on July 25 with regular pilot Brady Jenson in the bike. She won a total of 5 races and $71,704 from thirteen Aces starts and had an overall summary of 19-9-2-3 and $81,204 including her undefeated county fair campaign.

𝐄𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐐 is the sophomore male pacing Champion. He is a son of Wind Me Up and was bred by Fabiola Quevedo and is owned by Triple Q Stables and trained by Edwin Quevedo.

El Parrandero Q was also the freshman Champion in 2023. As a sophomore he captured victory on Night of Champions in 1:55 and took his current career mark of 1:52.1 on August 15 with regular driver Jacob Cutting aboard.

He had five wins and 8 top-three finishes from twelve Running Aces starts, earning $75,374 for his 2024 Minnesota campaign.

𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 is the sophomore male pacing Runner-Up. He is a son of Vlos and is owned by his breeders Set The Pace Racing and is trained by Nick Roland.

Celebrity Status was 3rd on Night of Champions and took his sophomore mark of 1:54.3 on June 6 with Luke Plano in the bike while Nick Roland is his regular driver.

He was never worse than fourth at Running Aces in 2024 while earning $58,581 with a summary of 13-2-7-3. Overall for the year he had a total of 4 wins and $88,687.

by Darin Gagne, for Minnesota Harness Racing, Inc.