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Minnesota’s Best Line Up In Wednesday’s Festival Of Champions At Canterbury

Minnesota's top Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses will race Wednesday at Canterbury Park in the 28th Minnesota Festival of Champions. The 12-race card, restricted to horses bred in the state, includes six $100,000 stakes and will pay a total of $852,450 in purses. First post is scheduled for 4:10 p.m.

The Festival began in 1992 when Minnesota horsemen were determined to show then-owner Ladbroke Racing Corp., who clearly had little interest in operating the track in the future, that horse racing could thrive in the state. Horse breeders, trainers and owners, including current track CEO Randy Sampson, banded together to present a day of racing that would feature horses bred in the state. The event drew a large crowd and was televised in the Twin Cities. As feared, Ladbroke closed what was then Canterbury Downs at the end of the year. The success of the first Festival however kept the flame alive and two years later Sampson, his father Curtis and South St. Paul businessman Dale Schenian purchased the Shakopee property and returned racing to Minnesota in 1995 at a newly branded Canterbury Park. The Minnesota Festival of Champions has been a focal point each summer since.

Leading trainer Mac Robertson, who has won a record 37 Festival races, is represented in each of the six Thoroughbred stakes and will saddle the morning line favorite in four. Jockey Roimes Chirinos will be aboard each of those including 2-year-old Honey Bella in the Debutante, Ready to Runaway in the Princess Elaine, Cinco Star in the Blair's Cove and Clickbait in the Bella Notte Sprint.

Pete Mattson of Prior Lake looks forward to this night each season. He owns and bred eight horses competing in four of the races and is also breeder of the Northern Lights Futurity favorite Love the Nest that he sold at the Keeneland September sale last fall. Fireman Oscar, entered in the Crocrock Sprint, accounts for both of Mattson's Festival victories. Now seven, he won the 2020 Crocrock and the Futurity as a 2-year-old.

“Festival shows who the best 2-year-olds are. Everything points to these last races,” Mattson said. “You really don't know until they race each other.” The lucrative purses are important to those investing extensively in Minnesota racing as well. “There is a big financial reward if they win,” he said.

While Mattson has a pair of fillies in the Debutante he is higher on his 2-year-old colts, Doctor Oscar and Ben's Malice, in the Futurity.

“Both are going to be very exceptional race horses,” he predicts. The Futurity's field of 10 is the largest of the thoroughbred stakes.

In the quarter horse stakes, Jason Olmstead, who has won seven consecutive training titles at Canterbury, is favored to win both the Minnesota Futurity and Minnesota Derby. Relentless Courage, a three-time winner this summer is 2 to 1 in the 350-yard Futurity and Jess Rocket Man is 8 to 5 in the 400-yard Derby.

The card will offer two pick five wagers, beginning in the first and sixth races. Canterbury offers an industry low 10 percent takeout on the 50 cent pick five as well as the $1 pick six which begins in the fifth race. Additional information is available at www.canterburypark.com .

Stakes Race Line-Up

Race 5 – $100,000 Northern Lights Debutante
Race 6 – $100,000 Princess Elaine Minnesota Distaff Turf
Race 7 – $100,000 Blair's Cove Minnesota Turf
Race 8 – $100,000 Northern Lights Futurity
Race 9 – $100,000 Crocrock Minnesota Sprint
Race 10 – $100,000 Bella Notte Minnesota Distaff Sprint
Race 11 – $62,900 Minnesota Quarter Horse Futurity
Race 12 – $60,550 Minnesota Quarter Horse Derby

The post Minnesota’s Best Line Up In Wednesday’s Festival Of Champions At Canterbury appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Live Racing Returns Over Laurel Park’s Renovated Course On Thursday

A total of 88 horses were entered in nine races, five over a newly reconstructed main track and four on its world-class turf course, as live racing makes its return to Laurel Park Thursday, Sept. 9.

Laurel Park's 59-day fall meet is scheduled to run through Dec. 31. First post is 12:40 p.m. The fall meet will include the 30th running of the $200,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) Sept. 18, five turf stakes on Sept. 18, and Maryland Million Day Oct. 23.

Laurel's live program Thursday will be the first since a multi-million rebuilding of its dirt surface and an extended Preakness Meet at Pimlico Race Course ended Aug. 22.

The first turf event of the fall season is scheduled for Race 2, a 1 1/8-mile claiming event for maidens age 3, 4 and 5 to be contested over the Dahlia course layout. It attracted an overflow field of 14 including main track only entrant King Alan; Mr. J. McKay, a full brother to Miss J McKay, winner of the 2019 Anne Arundel County over the Laurel turf; and new gelding Emphasize, a $180,000 son of 2016 Preakness (G1) winner Exaggerator.

In all, 52 horses were entered for the grass on opening day, an average of 13 per race. Laurel's expansive 142-foot wide grass course and portable rail allows for six different settings, each named for some of racing's biggest stars – All Along (rail setting), Bowl Game (17 feet), Kelso (35 feet), Dahlia (52 feet), Exceller (70 feet) and Fort Marcy (87 feet).

Eight first-time starters are among 10 2-year-old fillies entered in Race 6, a six-furlong maiden special weight sprint. Among them are Frosty Brew, a son of Frosted purchased for $160,000 as a 2-year-old in training in April and trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey; Prima Ballerina, a $150,000 yearling by Liam's Map for trainer Michael Stidham; and Determined Truth, third in the five-furlong Keswick on the Colonial Downs turf Aug. 2.

The Dahlia turf course will also host an entry-level, one-mile allowance for 3-year-olds and up in Race 7, which drew 16 entries including Manicomio, a popular last-out winner going 1 1/16 miles on the Pimlico grass July 18; stakes-placed Take Profit, most recently fourth by two lengths in the 1 ½-mile Bald Eagle Derby July 24 at Pimlico; 2020 Maryland Million Turf Starter Handicap winner Beltway Bob; and American d'Oro, a 3-year-old that beat his elders in a five-furlong turf sprint Aug. 8 at Pimlico.

Race 8 is a first-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up going one mile on the dirt. The field of six includes Tiz Mandate, second in the one-mile Miracle Wood Feb. 20 at Laurel; Erawan, third in Laurel's 1 1/16-mile Howard County as a 2-year-old last December; and the McGaughey-trained Romp, racing for the first time as a gelding following his third-place finish in the Sir Barton May 15 at Pimlico.

The opening day card closes with a maiden special weight sprint for 2-year-old fillies at 5 ½ furlongs over the All Along layout. Six of the 13 entered have yet to start led by Coffee Bean, a son of Uncle Mo trained by Arnaud Delacour; and Kit Keller, a Godolphin homebred daughter of Hall of Famer Ghostzapper; and Little Bit of That, by leading Maryland sire Great Notion. Determined Star, a $120,000 yearling by Honor Code, was fourth by three lengths in a 5 ½-furlong turf dash Aug. 2 at Colonial Downs.

Opening weekend at Laurel Park runs through Sunday, Sept. 12.

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This Week in Review: Can Gunite Break the Curse of the Hopeful

There's no doubt that Gunite (Gun Runner) is a quality horse and he secured an important win Monday at Saratoga in the GI Hopeful S when upsetting the highly regarded colts Wit (Practical Joke) and High Oak (Gormley). But is he a GI Kentucky Derby winner? If the last 43 runnings of the Hopeful mean anything, the answer is no.

The Hopeful is the first Grade I race for 2-year-old males run each year on the NYRA calendar and always brings together groups of horses who were impressive winners in Saratoga or someplace else. Every year, the field represents what seems to be unlimited potential.

That would suggest that a win in the race is a ticket to stardom as a 3-year-old, but that has not been the case for a long time. The last time a Hopeful winner won the Kentucky Derby was way back in 1978 when Affirmed swept the Triple Crown. Since then, only 11 Hopeful winners have made it to the Derby and only three have done so since 2005. None of those three finished in the money.

The 2004 Hopeful winner was Afleet Alex, who finished third in the Kentucky Derby in 2005 before winning the GI Preakness S. and the GI Belmont S. Sixteen years since he last raced, he is the last Hopeful winner to have had any sort of impact in any of the Triple Crown races.

That wasn't always the case. First run in 1901, the Hopeful has produced seven Kentucky Derby winners and three Triple Crown winners (Affirmed, Secretariat, Whirlaway). Foolish Pleasure, Secretariat and Affirmed combined to give the Hopeful three Derby winners over a six-year period. Hall of Famers like Man o'War, Nashua and Native Dancer also used the Hopeful as a springboard to stardom during the 3-year-old seasons and beyond.

There's no secret when it comes to what is happening here. Two-year-olds are trained and campaigned much differently than they were during the days of Affirmed. The Hopeful was the sixth start of Affirmed's career, which began May 24, and it was his fourth stakes win. His pre-Hopeful campaign even included a ship to California, where he won the GII Hollywood Juvenile Championship. By the time he got to the Hopeful, he was already a seasoned horse.

Fast forward 44 years and the horses who compete in the Hopeful usually have had no more than two prior starts. While they have talent, they also win the Hopeful because they are precocious and fast. Eight months later in the Kentucky Derby, the rest of the class has usually caught up to them if not passed them.

None of this is to say that the Hopeful is a ticket to nowhere. The 2020 winner Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music), who typifies the type of horse that now excels in the Hopeful, is a Grade I winner at three, in the thick of the race for champion sprinter, and has emerged as a valuable sire prospect. That probably wouldn't have happened if he had not been managed beautifully by Steve Asmussen. Asmussen didn't pretend to have something he didn't. He gave Jackie's Warrior only one shot to prove that he was a Derby horse and the result was a distant third in the GIII Southwest S. That was the last time he ever raced around two turns and he has been on a tear ever since. Had Asmussen pressed on and tried to make the Derby there's no telling what might have happened with Jackie's Warrior.

Gunite, who was Asmussen's third straight winner in the Hopeful, will no doubt be given the opportunity to show if he's a viable Triple Crown horse. Being by Gun Runner, maybe he can do it. It's just more likely than come Derby week 2022, he'll be eyeing something like the GII Pat Day Mile S.

Mattress Mack Scores at Monmouth

It's impossible not to root for Jim McIngvale.

When Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana last week, there he was again, traveling from Houston to Louisiana with badly needed supplies for those hard hit by the hurricane. He also opened his Houston furniture store as a safe haven to dozens of families who needed shelter. A humanitarian, he never fails to come to the recsue when his part of the globe is hit by a violent storm.

Eight days after Ida struck and with the situation getting more back to normal, McIngvale could turn his attention back to racing.

While the offspring of Runhappy (Super Saver) are having a much better year than they did in 2020, McIngvale had yet to come up with a top son or daughter of his stallion of his own. That all changed Saturday at Monmouth when Runup (Runhappy) won the $200,000 Sorority S., the first stakes win for a McIngvale-owned offspring of Runhappy. She didn't beat the best field and managed to get an uncontested lead, but she improved and showed enough in her first start around two turns to suggest that even better days are ahead.

“She runs a lot like her dad,” McIngvale said via text.

Let's hope so. It would be a ton of fun to have McIngvale connected to another good horse.

Thoughts on Handle Numbers at Saratoga and Del Mar

For both Saratoga and Del Mar, the 2021 meets were ones to remember, highlighted by record wagering.

The final all-sources handle for Saratoga was $815,508,063, a 15.6% increase over last year and the first time Saratoga had eclipsed the $800 million mark. At Del Mar, the average daily handle was a record $18.38 million for the meet. The total handle was $569.98 million.

That's great news for Saratoga and Del Mar, which have never been more popular. It would stand to reason that both meets should peak at sometime, but it just doesn't happen.

The hope for racing is that Del Mar and Saratoga are creating new fans, ones that will keep betting once racing shifts to Santa Anita and Belmont. But that doesn't appear to be the case as racing's overall handle has been more or less stagnant for years. That means that what is happening is that Saratoga and Del Mar are simply grabbing a bigger share of the pari-mutuel wagering market every year.

Racing has found out that it's not hard to get people to turn out for and bet on high-quality short meets, like Saratoga, Del Mar and Keeneland. But the Thursday afternoon at Belmont, Santa Anita, or just about anywhere else, remain a tough sell and something the sport continues to need to work on.

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Southwest Trainer Neatherlin, Original Conditioner Of Kip Deville, Dies At Age 65

Mike Neatherlin, a regular presence in the Southwest training ranks since the early 1990s and first trainer of Breeders' Cup Mile winner Kip Deville, died Sunday due to complications from COVID-19. He was 65.

The Waterford, Texas-based trainer saddled 186 combined Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse winners, with combined on-track earnings of over $2.7 million. He saddled his first starters in 1991, first focusing primarily on Quarter Horses at Trinity Meadows and Sunland Park, before making the switch to Thoroughbreds in the years that followed.

Neatherlin had just recently seen the most lucrative years of his training career, earning over $250,000 for the first time in 2018 and eclipsing that amount each following year.

That was helped along greatly by the ascent of Mr. Money Bags. A Texas homebred for Roy Cobb, the Silver City gelding won five stakes races in his home state, and ventured out to Zia Park in New Mexico for an additional pair of stakes scores, for earnings of $491,376.

Mr. Money Bags was named Texas Horse of the Year in 2019, on the strength of a campaign that included wins in the Jim's Orbit Stakes and Groovy Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park, the Texas Stallion Stymie Division Stakes at Lone Star Park, and the Roadrunner Stakes and Zia Park Derby in New Mexico. The gelding also took Neatherlin into national-level competition, with starts in the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs, and the listed Iowa Derby.

Neatherlin was also the first trainer and co-owner of eventual Breeders' Cup winner Kip Deville. He started the Oklahoma-bred's training after the colt was purchased by Wayne Cobb and South Wind Ranch for $20,000 at the 2004 Fasig-Tipton Texas Yearling Sale. Neatherlin then consigned Kip Deville at the following year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale, where he finished under his reserve at $32,000.

Under Neatherlin's shedrow, Kip Deville started his career racing in Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas. He won the Texas Heritage Stakes at Sam Houston, then finished out of the money in the G3 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, before winning the listed Grand Prairie Turf Challenge Stakes at Lone Star Park by four lengths.

That effort grabbed the attention of owner IEAH Stables, which bought Kip Deville privately in the middle of his 3-year-old season and moved him to the barn of trainer Rick Dutrow. The horse would go on to become a seven-time graded stakes winner, with three of them coming against Grade 1 competition, including the 2007 Breeders' Cup Mile at Monmouth Park.

Neatherlin also owned several of his own racehorses, led by six-figure earning Texas-breds Light Up the Devil and Catch the Devil.

Among Neatherlin's successful pinhooks at auction was Airoforce, who he bought for $20,000 at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale and sold for $350,000 at the following year's OBS Spring Sale, through his son Lane Richardson's Richardson Bloodstock. Airoforce would go on to become a multiple graded stakes winner and finish second in the 2015 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

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