Aces to hold Ron Banks Memorial

Running Aces offers a special Monday (July 5) program of Harness Racing which will be highlighted by the $15,000 Ron Banks Memorial, an Open Handicap trotting event which drew a field of seven talented square-gaiters who will go in to battle in race six on the card.

The 5-2 morning line favorite is All American N (Luke Plano), a 7 year-old Muscle Hill gelding from the Edward Hernandez barn who has won two out of his last three starts at the top open level and will start from post seven. Susie’s Sister (Brady Jenson) drew post six for trainer Jenni King and is the 3-1 second choice, the 4 year-old daughter of Claudius Augustus is fresh off a track record win in last week’s top open event. Other top contenders in the field include the fastest trotter ever at Running Aces, Pridecrest (Mooney Svendsen, 4-1) as well as Mandeville (Nick Roland, 7-2) and Bordogna (Rick Magee, 6-1).

The feature race is named in honor of Ron Banks, who passed away in October of last year. He was a resident of Cannon Falls, MN and was a teacher and coach in Cannon Falls, as well as a farmer and Standardbred horseman. He trained and raced horses and also announced the races for many years across the Midwest. Mr. Banks also worked hard to help get a pari-mutuel track dedicated to Harness Racing going in Minnesota, a project which resulted in the opening of Running Aces. In 2018 he was inducted into the Minnesota Harness Racing Hall of Fame. The extended Banks family includes many successful and prominent participants in Harness Racing in Minnesota and across the region who continue to carry on his legacy of horsemanship and dedication to the sport.

The Monday program will also feature a carryover of $28,939.76 for the 20 cent Pick-5 Jackpot wager, which is comprised of the last five races of the night. The Jackpot pool is being forced out on Tuesday’s (July 6) program, with an estimated pool of $100,000. Free past-performance race pages will be available on the USTA website for the mandatory payout Pick-5 sequence on Tuesday.

Next week, the Running Aces racing schedule returns to Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday nights with all post times at 6:05 pm (CDT).

by Darin Gagne, for Running Aces