Running Aces Track Announcer Darin Gagne said it best: Fifty Rivers powered home to win his second straight race Sunday, June 7 in Minnesota.
Guided by Casey Leonard, Fifty Rivers was tagged as the favorite and was handicapped to the outside in the evening’s featured $15,000 Open Handicap Trot. When the gates folded, he was out and moving but so were several of his opponents to his inside. He was four wide heading into the first turn as Escaper and Rick Magee got the first call on top, taken over shortly before the quarter in :27.3 by Go have Fun and Brady Jenson.
The third lead change took just a few more strides as Fifty Rivers pursued the top spot and slid into the lead headed by the grandstand the first time. Once on the lead, the Indiana trotter relaxed and led the way through the half in :56.2, keeping up his momentum through the middle fractions.
In the stretch, Fifty Rivers began to pull away from the field, winning by a comfortable two and one-half lengths at the wire in 1:53.1, a final panel trotted in :28.1. Escaper finished second over Peanutbutterfalcon and Scott Cisco for third.
Fifty Rivers paid $5.40 for the win. The four-year-old son of Fiftydallarbill is owned by JMF Racing and trained by Kathleen Plested. John Barnard, who owns Indiana stallion Fiftydallarbil, bred and raised the gelding, who now has seven wins this season and 14 overall, He is just under the $200,000 mark in earnings. His career best time of 1:52.3 was taken earlier this year at Dover Downs.
Fifty Rivers is out of Barnard’s tough race mare Hudson Jesse, also an Indiana sired trotter who earned a mark of 1:54.0 during her career with more than $341,000 in earnings. In addition to Fifty Rivers, her latest foal, she has produced Hudson Swan, a winner in 1:53.3 with $41,000 on his card.
