On Tuesday, August 6, at Running Aces, Speaking Volumes secured a decisive victory in the featured $17,639 Open II Handicap Pace.
The race featured eight competitors, with Juju Hanover (Elson Miller) starting as the 3-2 favourite, Captain Up (Brad Irvine) attracting significant attention at 2-1, and last week’s winner, Speaking Volumes (Mooney Svendsen), being the 7-2 third choice.
From their outside positions, both Zanetti (Dean Magee) and Speaking Volumes made strong moves toward the front. Speaking Volumes reached the lead before the :26.4 quarter-mile mark, with Zanetti settling into the pocket and Juju Hanover taking third.
Svendsen managed to ease Speaking Volumes into a comfortable rhythm, allowing him to steal a :29.1 second-quarter breather as the field followed closely on the backstretch.
As they approached the far turn, Juju Hanover launched a first-over bid, applying pressure to the leader. At the three-quarter pole, the time was 1:23.2, with Zanetti still holding strong in the pocket.
Speaking Volumes maintained his pace in the stretch, securing a 1-1/4-length victory in 1:51.4. Captain Up surged through traffic for a late rally, finishing second, just ahead of Zanetti, who came in third.
Speaking Volumes, a four-year-old son of Artspeak, is owned by Little Bapa and trained by Bob Johnson. He paid $9 to win.
In other highlights, Peanutbutterfalcon (Jeff Hunt) achieved his second consecutive victory with a gate-to-wire performance in the $12,500 two-year-old handicap trot, finishing 3-1/4 lengths ahead of Braggen Bliss (Nick Roland) and SD Imma Superstar (Brian Detgen) with a time of 2:03. This win marked his third in five career starts. He paid $7.60 to win.
Tutto Bene (Todd Warren) scored a 16-1 upset in the $12,500 freshman handicap pace, leading from the front and narrowly holding off the heavy favourite, The Minnesota Kid (Luke Plano), by a head with a time of 1:57.3. One Last Booyah (Hunt) finished third. Tutto Bene, a son of Karpathian Kid, is owned by Ron Rettig-Zucchi and trained by Lino Pacheco. He returned $34 for the win.
Live harness racing returns to Running Aces on Thursday, August 8, with an 11-race program featuring a $21,800.80 carryover in the 20-cent Pick-5 Jackpot wager, starting in race seven. The first post is set for 6 p.m. (CDT).