On Sunday, July 27 at Running Aces, Smarter Yet won for the third time in five tries in the track’s weekly Open Pace.

Kim Pluta guided the seven-year-old gelding for trainer Ron Merritt and owner Kevin St. Charles. It was Smarter Yet’s 37th lifetime win, which raised his career bankroll to $236,925. The noted closer used his usual strong stretch drive to catch Headsup Yankee (driven by Nick Roland) and Silver Spir (Jason Ryan) in the final strides of the 1:53 mile.

Pluta also won a $7,000 conditioned pace on the undercard with Restless Yankee, one of the best-ever Minnesota-bred horses. Courtesy of a 1:53.4 victory, the Bob and Ryan Lems-owned son of Relentless Yankee now has 46 triumphs and $278,531 in earnings. He bested Dont Tell Rusty (Jason Ryan) and Mister Virgin (Nick Roland).

A $7,000 trot which mixed top conditioned horses with $10,000 claimers was won by Axle (Kody Massey) via a narrow decision over Forceful Gale (Brian Detgen) and Flameon (Lemoyne Svendsen). The winner was claimed from owner-trainer George Reider by Daniel Maier.

For the third consecutive racing night, veteran Gerry Longo scored a driving triple on Sunday.

The handle for the 11-race program was $201,791.

(Running Aces)