A Night at the Races: Running Aces Casino, Hotel & Racetrack

Photography and words by Jason Alexander / MN LOCAL & LIVE

I'll be honest. Before last night, harness racing was not on my radar. I knew Running Aces existed. I'd driven past the exit on I35 more times than I can count. But I had no real sense of what was actually happening out there in Columbus, MN. Now I do, and I'm already planning my next trip back.

I was given the to opportunity to shoot the races and get a behind-the-scenes look at the operation, and what I got was one of the most unexpectedly immersive nights I've had with a camera in years.

The Grand Tour

Aaron Bedessem, Vice President of Marketing and Operations at Running Aces, met me at the door and gave me a full walk of the facility. The casino floor, the restaurant, the operations center upstairs with a view of the entire track, the poker room (live tables running 24/7, by the way), and then out to the track. Aaron knows this place inside and out, and his enthusiasm for what they've built here comes through immediately. This isn't a guy going through the motions. He genuinely wants people to discover Running Aces, and it shows in how he talks about it.

The facility itself is thoughtfully designed. The main building sits on the west side of the property so that by the time the races start, the setting sun casts long, golden shade across the home stretch seating area. On a warm Tuesday evening, it's a perfect place to be. Comfortable, open-air, and with a view of the track that puts you close enough to the action that you can feel it.

Into the Stables

Before the first race, Aaron walked me back through the stables. This is where things got real for me as a photographer. The energy back there is quiet but focused. Trainers working their horses, grooms getting animals ready, the particular smell of hay and effort that you can't replicate anywhere else. It's a world most people never see, and it's genuinely fascinating.

I met a handful of people back there, and the warmth was immediate. Nobody was standoffish or protective of their space. They welcomed the camera and were happy to talk.

In the Mobile Starting Gate

Here's where the night took a turn I wasn't expecting.

For the first race, I was invited to ride in the Mobile Starting Gate. If you're not familiar, the Starting Gate is the vehicle that lines the horses up and sets them in motion at the start of each race. The horses come nose to the gate, the Score-up folding wing attached to the throw back mid 90’s Cadillac spreads across the track, and then everything accelerates. We were running at around 30 miles per hour with a full field of trotting horses just inches behind us. The bubble top extension lifted Conrad (the gate keeper, if you will) and I up to the level of the horses heads. It is exhilarating in a way that's hard to describe. You're not watching the race from the stands. You're inside it.

What I didn't fully appreciate until that moment is that the Starting Gate's job doesn't end at the break. The crew rides the full race alongside the field, watching for infractions and serving as race officials the entire time. For me, it was also the most dynamic photo opportunity of the night. One and a half laps around the track, at speed, with horses and drivers right there. I burned through frames fast.

The People Make It

After the first race I found my way to the rail and started meeting people, and this is where Running Aces really distinguishes itself.

Bill and Cathy are regulars. They own ten horses that race frequently at the track, and they could not have been more welcoming. Bill guided me through how to read the race program, what to look for in a pace's form, and age of the racer - more on that in a minute. He invited me to come sit with them any time I make it out. That kind of generosity from a stranger at a track is not something I anticipated, but it turned out to be completely typical of the crowd.

Everyone I spoke with last night was warm, engaged, and genuinely wanted to share what they love about the sport. They're not trying to keep harness racing a secret. They want more people to discover it.

The Driver lineup that night (they’re not jockeys, they’re called Drivers) was its own interesting story. The youngest driver on the card was Josiah Miller at 19 years old. The oldest was Gerald Longo, whom I met back in the stables before the races. Gerald is 81 years old and still competing at a high level. That range, six decades of age between the youngest and oldest driver on the same night, tells you something about harness racing that nothing else really can. It’s all inclusive.

What's Actually Happening on the Track

Running Aces runs harness racing, which means horse and driver in a sulky, a lightweight two-wheeled cart. There are two gaits in harness racing: trotting and pacing. Last night's card was all pacer races, where the horse moves its legs laterally (right front and right hind together, then left front and left hind), a gait that requires precision and training to maintain at speed. If a horse breaks from its gait during a race, it's an infraction and the driver has to fall back, work to get the horse back on stride before continuing.

Tuesday nights are a little different from the rest of the race schedule. Post time on Tuesdays is 7pm, an hour later than the Thursday and Sunday 6pm start. That extra hour creates room for qualifier races at the front of the card, where young horses and horses new to the track can compete and prove they can maintain their gait at racing speed. Perform well in a qualifier and you earn your spot on future race cards. It's essentially a proving ground, and watching one is a surprisingly compelling piece of the evening.

The 2026 live racing season runs May 17 through September 19, so there's a full summer of racing ahead.

The Setting

Memorial Day weekend brought out what both Aaron and Bill said was likely the biggest crowd Running Aces has ever seen on a race night. The hope is that it's a signal of what's ahead for the summer. Standing at the rail in the early evening light, watching horses come around the far turn with the crowd picking up around you, it hit me that this is a genuinely great night out that most people in the Twin Cities simply don't know they're missing.

Admission is free! The energy is relaxed and friendly. The food and drink options are solid, with daily specials on race nights that make the whole evening remarkably affordable. Dollar hot dogs and dollar bets on Tuesdays. A $2 Coors Light. It's not trying to be something it's not, and that's exactly what makes it work.

Go. Seriously.

Running Aces is at 15201 Running Aces Blvd in Columbus, MN, one exit past the I-35E and W split, about 20 minutes north of 694/494 loop. It's easy to find and easy to get to.

Live racing runs every Tuesday at 7pm, and every Thursday and Sunday at 6pm through September 19th. No admission charge. Bring the family. Bring a friend who's never been. Read the program. Put a few bucks on a horse you like the name of. Eat a dollar hot dog at the rail.

I went out there as a photographer looking for interesting images and came home having had one of the better evenings of my summer so far. That's not nothing.

A full gallery of photos from the night are posted here. Go give Running Aces a look at runaces.com.

Jason Alexander is a Minneapolis-based commercial photographer and the founder of MN LOCAL & LIVE.