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Favorites Look Tough To Beat In Wednesday’s Minnesota Oaks, Derby At Canterbury Park

There will be prohibitive favorites in both the Minnesota Derby and Minnesota Oaks Wednesday at Canterbury Park. Thealligatorhunter in the Derby and Star of the North in the Oaks are both 3-5 on the morning line and represent the best of the 3-year-old statebred crop in a pair of $100,000 stakes conducted at one mile and 70 yards on the main track. The 11-race card, billed as Made in MN Night, begins at 5:00 p.m. and also includes the $50,000 Wally's Choice and $50,000 Glitter Star Stakes for older Minnesota breds.

Thealligatorhunter and Star of the North have finished first in their seven collective races this season at Canterbury, however Thealligatorhunter was disqualified for interference and placed second in his most recent start.

Each won their July 14 six furlong Oaks and Derby prep races. Star of the North went gate to wire in the $50,000 Frances Genter Stakes as the odds-on choice, winning by 3 1/4 lengths. Thealligatorhunter took control of the Victor S. Myers Stakes mid-race and cruised home by four lengths. Ry Eikleberry rode Star of the North for trainer Francisco Bravo. Alonso Quinonez rode Thealligatorhunter for Tim Padilla. Both will be aboard again Wednesday.

The colt and filly tried a longer distance for the first time in one mile allowance races. Star of the North again led her field gate to wire, winning easily as the unchallenged 1-9 favorite on July 29. Thealligatorhunter faced a bit tougher task Aug. 1. He was bumped at the start before dueling throughout with the older Minnesota Miracle. At the sixteenth pole Thealligatorhunter shifted out, making contact and held a 3/4-length edge at the finish line, but was subsequently disqualified.

The Minnesota Derby is the sixth race on the card with a 7:40 post time and is followed by the Oaks.

Drop of Golden Sun won the 2020 Wally's Choice racing gate to wire in the 1 1/16 mile stake, defeating Cinco Star, the morning-line favorite in this year's rendition, by four lengths. The two met July 14 when Cinco Star closed to win the Ralph Strangis Stakes. Quinonez will ride Drop of Golden Sun while Roimes Chirinos, who left Shakopee in late July to ride in New Mexico, returns for the mount on Cinco Star for trainer Mac Robertson.

Chirinos also is named on Ready to Runaway, the favorite in the Glitter Star who won this stake in 2019 and 2020 for owner John Mentz and trainer Robertson. The consistent 5-year-old mare has 11 wins and three second-place finishes from 14 starts at Canterbury. Mentz claimed her as a 3-year-old for $25,000 and since she has won nine races including seven stakes, and $390,185 in purses for the Lakeville owner. Ready to Runaway's earnings racing at Canterbury of $400,675 is the fourth largest sum in the history of the Shakopee racetrack.

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Canterbury Cancels Wednesday Thoroughbred Races, Pushes Post Time For Quarter Horse Qualifiers

With a high heat index expected, Canterbury Park racing officials will delay Wednesday evening's first post until 8:05 p.m. CDT and will not conduct the first five originally scheduled Thoroughbred races, leaving seven Quarter Horse races beginning at the adjusted start time.

The decision was made after consultation with the Minnesota Racing Commission veterinary staff and in agreement with the Minnesota HBPA.

The Wednesday program was to begin at 5:00 p.m. with 12 races, five Thoroughbred races followed by seven Quarter Horse races. With a heat index forecast to exceed 105 degrees into the early evening, racing officials opted to delay Wednesday's start until the apparent temperature is projected to subside and to cancel the first five races.

The seven quarter horse races, races 6 through 12, are time trials for the Northlands Futurity and the Canterbury Park Quarter Horse Derby. The final race is now scheduled for 10:53 p.m.

“We made the decision to delay Wednesday racing, based on the forecast of an extremely high heat index, with the safety of all participants, horses, jockeys, staff and spectators, in mind,” Vice President of Racing Andrew Offerman said. “We are confident that by 8 p.m. the temperatures will have decreased to a comfortable and safe level.”

There will be no admission charge on Wednesday. Gates open at 7:00 p.m. Indoor seating, which is also free, offers air conditioned comfort.

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Canterbury Park’s Mid-Season Handle Figures Show Continued Growth

Horse racing resumes Wednesday at Canterbury Park following a nine-day break while the Shakopee, Minn. entertainment facility hosted Twin Cities Summer Jam, a three-day music festival held in the racetrack infield. The pause allowed horse trainers and their equine counterparts to prepare for the final 29 days of the 65-day season. Canterbury officials are pleased and encouraged by several metrics, including wagering numbers, from the first 36 days.

Average daily handle, the amount of money wagered, increased 12.8 percent compared to 2020 and 153.2 percent compared to the first 36 days of 2019. In 2020, due to the pandemic, Canterbury ran a shortened, Monday through Thursday season and was allowed no more than 750 spectators per day. This was a deviation from the 25-year tradition of racing Thursday through Sunday with an average of 6,500 spectators.

The shift in days of the week attracted an increased national wagering audience during a timeframe with much less competition resulting in a dramatic increase in daily average out-of-state handle, a trend that continues in 2021 as Canterbury runs a hybrid schedule of Sundays at 1:00 p.m. and Tuesdays through Thursdays at 5:00 p.m. Out-of-state average handle increased by 8.3 percent over last year, and 221.8 percent over 2019, to $1.3 million per day. On-track handle, with no spectator capacity limits, is nearly double the 2020 average and down just 19.7 percent compared to the pre-pandemic 2019 season, an average racing officials are content with as spectators begin to adapt and return to post-pandemic events.

“We are very pleased with the mid-season figures,” Vice President of Racing Operations Andrew Offerman said. “We have thoroughly enjoyed the return of the energy and excitement of live racing fans although we knew there would be an adjustment period following such a dramatic schedule shift. Our participants have remarked about the renewed energy and excitement in the facility so it is clear that everyone is pleased to be getting back to normal.

“Additionally, our product has continued to be popular across the country which is very rewarding to see in the year following the pandemic. In the second half of the race meet we continue to look for ways to entertain the local live racing fan while cultivating a strong racing product for the national audience,” Offerman said.

The stability of purses paid to horse owners has been a major factor in the success of the season thus far. Purses have averaged $235,237 per day, an increase of 29.6 percent over last year when business-level decreases necessitated lower purses. The 2021 average is 4.8 percent more than 2019. The purse structure has created competiveness and an average of 7.15 starters per race, a figure consistent with the past two seasons.

“There is no doubt that our careful purse management in 2020 proved beneficial in 2021 as we have been able to return purses to their pre-pandemic levels,” Offerman said. “Our participants have responded by continuing to fill competitive race cards, a trend I anticipate will continue throughout the season.”

Offerman views the level of claiming activity as an indicator of a healthy race meet as well. There is a demand for horses and increased participation by owners with a total of 143 horses having been claimed compared to 72 and 74 in the past two seasons during the same time. A claiming race is a race in which horses may be purchased by a licensed owner for the claiming price listed for that race.
Past meet leaders congregate near the top of the thoroughbred trainer and owner standings. Robertino Diodoro and Mac Robertson vie for top trainer honors. Diodoro won three races on July 18 and has a 32 to 31 lead over Robertson. Empire Racing Stables, LLC has 15 wins, two more than 2020 leading owner Lothenbach Stables, Inc. Novogratz Racing Stables also has 13 wins.

Lindey Wade, new to Canterbury this season, is the leading jockey through 36 days, winning with 37 of 165 mounts. Alonso Quinonez has 32 wins and 2020 leading rider Ry Eikleberry has 30.

Canterbury continues to offer an industry-low 10 percent takeout rate on the $.50 Pick 5 wager and the $1 Pick 6 wager. Both the Pick 5 and Pick 6, offered daily, are traditional wagers distributing the full pool less takeout to bettors selecting the first-place horse in each leg of the wager.

Post time Wednesday and Thursday is 5:00 p.m. Information can be found at www.canterburypark.com .

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Canterbury Park Announces Hall Of Fame Class Of 2021

The newest members of the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame were announced Monday. The Class of 2021 includes A P Is Loose and Honey's Sox Appeal, Thoroughbreds that are among the all-time leaders in purse earnings in the history of the Shakopee, Minn. racetrack, as well as Steve and Dorothy Erban of Stillwater and Mary Green of Eden Prairie, pioneers in the state's racing industry dating back to the 1970s. These inductees join a group of more than 45 individuals and horses that comprise the best of Minnesota racing.

A P is Loose raced from 2013 through 2020, winning 13 times and earning $503,728 in purses at Canterbury. He was bred and owned by Joel Zamzow of Duluth. The Minnesota-bred son of Monarchos won stakes on both turf and dirt, including the Blair's Cove three times and the Minnesota Classic Championship.

Honey's Sox Appeal won the Minnesota Distaff Sprint three consecutive years, 2016 through 2018. She was named 3-year-old filly of the meet in 2016 and champion sprinter in 2016 and 2017. Her purse earnings of $437,650 are the most ever by a filly or mare at Canterbury. Honey's Sox Appeal, now in foal to Malibu Moon, is owned by Bob Lindgren of Prior Lake. She was bred by Lindgren and Paul Knapper in Minnesota.

If there was a job to be done in the early days of Minnesota horse racing that predated Canterbury's existence, Mary Green was often involved. As one of the many Minnesota Thoroughbred Association members that so badly wanted to bring a racetrack to their home state, Green met with legislators and lobbied for the state to approve pari-mutuel racing while at the same time also busy racing her horses outside the state. Green maintains a role in the MTA and also served as executive assistant to Randy Sampson when he became track president in 1994.

Steve Erban conducted race meets on the outskirts of the Twin Cities in the early 1970s. He too lobbied for a racetrack and when it became a reality in 1985 he served as the Minnesota HBPA president for six years representing racehorse owners and trainers. Together Erban and wife Dorothy have owned and bred stakes winning horses, developed a national horseracing event called the Final Fourteen, formed partnerships introducing new owners to the sport, and stood a successful stallion in the state.

The Canterbury Park Hall of Fame was founded in 1995 to recognize people and horses that have made important and lasting contributions to the racing industry within the state. The selection committee consists of representatives of local horsemen organizations, media, and Canterbury Park. The new members will be recognized during the races on Hall of Fame Night this Wednesday and inducted at a July 17 ceremony.

Steve and Dorothy Erban

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