The Thursday (June 29) harness racing program at Running Aces carried the weekly $18,500 Mares Open Pace and this week's edition drew a field of eight talented distaffers.
A pair of mares that were developed in western Canada were the talk of the toteboard, with Divine Art (Dean Magee) the 9-5 favourite and Moosette (Jacob Cutting) a close second choice at 2-1.
Jk My Girl (Todd Warren) was the fastest off the car from post eight while Wonder Of Love and driver Mooney Svendsen also left sharply from post four. Those two settled in the top spots to register the quarter in :27.1 before Svendsen moved his charge to the lead heading for the :56.1 half mile.
Moosette tried a first over bid down the backstretch and Divine Art followed cover. Moosette drew close to the leader near the 1:24.1 three-quarters but began to tire as they rounded for home while Divine Art moved forward.
Wonder Of Love ($11.60) still had plenty to offer in the lane and impressively kicked clear to win by two lengths while Divine Art picked up the pieces for second and Jk My Girl was third best in the 1:51.4 mile.
The win was the 11th of the season for the five-year-old daughter of Shadyshark Hanover, who is owned and trained by Kimberley Hines.
The program also featured Minnesota-sired freshman and sophomore pacers with two divisions in each age group.
Gotubydashorthairs (Nick Roland, $17.40) posted a career best 1:53.3 mile to.just defeat King Of Aces (Luke Plano) in a thrilling photo-finish with Dougsmonkeybusines (Cutting) home third in the $22,000 sophomore 'A' division. The winner is by Wind Me Up and is owned by Mark Anderson and trained by Gordon Graham.
El Perrandero Q (Cutting, $23.00) was very sharp in the $18,250 two-year-old male pace for his first lifetime win over Moon Kid Photo (Chad Svensden) and Terror You Apart (Brad Irvine) in 1:57. The winner is also by Wind Me Up, owned by Triple Q Stables and conditioned by Edwin Quevedo.
Deja Vu Babyboo (Roland, $38.20) won a thrilling stretch battle in the freshman filly pace to find victory in her career debut, stopping the timer in 1:59. Apple Juice (Irvine) was promoted to second and Delco Irene (Todd Warren) to third after Moonlit Night was demoted for interference. Van Otterloo Stables owns Bob Lems trains the winner, a daughter of Karpathian Kid.
Meechee (Irvine, $22.20) posted a career best 1:56.1 effort to capture the $14,500 sophomore 'B' event in a three-way photo finish over Polar Storm (Magee) and Hunky Dory (Sean Smithpeters). Irvine also trains the winner, a filly by Fancy Schmancy owned by Peg Hoffman.
Jacob Cutting led the program with three driving wins while Nick Roland, Brad Irvine, Brady Jenson and Edwin Quevedo all posted doubles.
Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Sunday (July 2) and Monday (July 3) with first post at 7 p.m. (CDT).
(Running Aces)