New harness track has big plans

The first race would not start for 90 minutes and Peg Hoffman, Barb Smith and Joyce Goodson had staked out a table alongside the windows overlooking the home stretch at Running Aces Harness Park.

Only a couple of tables are in the large room referred to as the "inner apron," and a group of horseplayers would have to arrive early to beat out this intrepid trio.

The 33rd night of racing in the track's history was held Friday. Smith of White Bear Lake and Goodson of North Branch continued their perfect attendance. Hoffman admits to three absences because of Lions Club duties.

Goodson's interest in harness racing goes back to the half-hearted attempt by Canterbury Downs to establish its presence in the mid-'80s. Smith and her husband, Ted, raise Friesians, a breed that travels in front of a buggy but not for racing.

Hoffman? She's both a horse lover and a booster of Columbus, her hometown and the location for this new business venture. Her enthusiasm for the track and for the animals is such that she brings carrots on a nightly basis.

"I feed them to the outrider horses," she said. "I'm on the rail for every race, no matter how lousy the weather."

There's been plenty of that since Running Aces opened April 11. Most dramatically, the tornado that ripped through Hugo could be seen from the roof of the grandstand.

Southwest Casino and MTR (Mountaineer) Gaming Group are the owners. Jeff Halpern, a vice president with Southwest Casino, said the investment was "between $62 and $63 million from ground up to opening."

The 50 days of racing will be complete at the end of this month. The plan is to open the card room at midnight July 1, the earliest possible moment.

The first harness meeting will end July 6. The tentative plan for 2009 is 50 days of harness racing from the first weekend in May until the end of July.

The people involved with Running Aces -- management or north suburban boosters -- get upset when they hear a suggestion that the racing is simply what it took politically to open a card room.

"We have had great support from the horsemen in order to get underway, and those people aren't going to be forgotten," Halpern said. "Next year, when we have the card room operating, we will increase purses. I hope we can double the purses."

Yet, more people were around the new track than anticipated. The simulcast area sits behind a bar and holds maybe 150. It was crowded Friday afternoon, with the customers handicapping the thoroughbreds at such tracks as Churchill Downs and Arlington Park.

Brothers James and Steve Snow, from the Blaine area, used to drive to Canterbury Park for simulcast wagering.

"This is so much closer; we're coming here most of the time," Steve said.

A start-up operation isn't without glitches. The Snows have joined the nationwide trend of betting 10-cent superfectas. On Friday, the Running Aces betting machines suddenly balked at taking those wagers for a couple of tracks.

At whatever track the Snows choose today, Running Aces or Canterbury, there will be a crowd -- what with simulcast wagering at both tracks on Big Brown's attempt at a Triple Crown.

And the fact such a ticket comes from her hometown track -- a facility she lobbied for at the Legislature -- would give greater meaning to that souvenir.