Tag: Racing

Minnesota's only Thoroughbred racetrack begins its 29th season as Canterbury Park on Saturday with a 5 p.m. central first post. The 54-day season starts with three days of racing, Saturday through Memorial Day Monday. Racing on Sunday and Monday begins at 1:00 p.m. The Shakopee, Minn. racetrack originally opened in 1985 but closed after the 1992 season. The track reopened for live racing in 1995 under new leadership and has conducted a race meet of at least 51 days each summer since.

Twenty-six races, 10 on the turf course, will be run during the first three programs. A total of 212 horses were entered for an average field size of 8.15 per race.

“Racing Secretary Robert Junk, Amber Carlisle and the rest of the racing office team did a phenomenal job putting together our Memorial Weekend cards,” Senior Director of Racing Chris Merz said. “With average field size over eight and an emphasis on our turf course with 10 turf races, we have assembled great cards for our bettors and fans to enjoy. We look to build on this early momentum throughout the season.” Merz will be experiencing his first meet at Canterbury Park after serving as racing secretary at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

Saturday's nine-race card includes two $50,000 stakes races restricted to horses bred in Minnesota, both at six furlongs. The 10,000 Lakes Stakes has the smallest field of the weekend with just five horses entered but is not wanting for quality. Doctor Oscar, at even money on the morning line, is a deserving favorite based on strong performances this winter at Tampa Bay Downs and Oaklawn Park. Thealligatorhunter also raced at Tampa Bay Downs. He has won eight of 12 Canterbury starts including a dead-heat in this stake in 2022. Both are trained by Tim Padilla. Multiple stakes winner Hot Shot Kid, now nine years old, is 10 to 1 on the morning line. He won the 10,000 Lakes in 2019 and 2020. A win Saturday would make him the richest Minnesota bred racehorse in history. He is trained by Mac Robertson.

The female counterpart to the 10,000 Lakes is the Lady Slipper Stakes which attracted 10 entrants, eight of which are former stakes winners. Charlie's Penny is the 7 to 5 morning line favorite and drew post position 10 with Lindey Wade to ride. “Give me that outside post every time,” trainer Joel Berndt said.

Ready to Runaway, trained by Robertson, won this race in 2020. Her $533,400 in purse earnings at Canterbury Park is the second most in track history. Robertson also entered Clickbait, the '21 and '22 Lady Slipper winner and It's Her Time, winner of last year's Minnesota Oaks.

Robertson and Berndt tied for leading trainer in 2022. Each has entered 21 horses over the first three days of racing. Robertson is a Canterbury Hall of Fame member who has 15 training titles. Berndt won his second last season. Leading jockey in 2022 Harry Hernandez is listed on mounts in 24 of the opening weekend's 26 races including six mounts for Robertson and four for Berndt.

The racing season runs through Sept. 16. Additional information can be found at canterburypark.com.

The post Average Field Size Of 8.15 Starters For Opening Weekend At Canterbury Park appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The two-month National Steeplechase Association spring season came to an end on Saturday with a card of mostly close finishes in the 92nd Radnor Hunt Races in Malvern, Pa.

In the featured $30,000 National Hunt Cup, contested at 2 3/8 miles as an allowance race this year, Riverdee Stable's Awakened and Jamie Bargary took charge heading to the final fence and drew clear of South Branch Equine's Who's Counting, trained and ridden by Sean McDermott, by 4 3/4 lengths. The $18,000 winning purse was enough to secure second place among NSA owners for Riverdee Stable, just behind leading owner Irv Naylor. For winning trainer Jack Fisher, the victory was his 10th of the season, which puts him in second in the standings.

Though only three horses went postward in the $20,000 Radnor Hunt Cup, at 3 1/4 miles over timber, a mere neck separated the top two finishers as Boudinot Farms' Elusive Exclusive, with Freddie Procter, nipped The Hundred Acre Field's Cracker Factory (Jamie Bargary).

The victory was one of two on the five-race card for trainer Leslie Young, who ended the spring with a remarkable 21 wins, to lead the standings by a wide margin.

For Elusive Exclusive, it was his third score in six NSA starts following a lengthy career in his native Ireland. It was also the nine-year-old's first trip to the post in a year.

The race had additional drama when the third horse, Great Road, with Eric Poretz, prematurely headed for the finish line with an additional lap of the course remaining, thus turning the Hunt Cup into a two-horse race.

Noble Stables' Total Joy, a first-time NSA starter for trainer Young, began the day with a thrilling neck victory over Irv Naylor's Gold Charm in the $25,000 Milfern Cup maiden special weights hurdle at 2 1/8 miles.

Ridden by Mark Watts, Total Joy sat in third in the eight-horse field for the first mile and a half, was sent to the lead entering the stretch, then relinquished it to Gold Charm, ridden by Barry Foley. Even though Watts had to deal with a lost left stirrup, Total Joy regained the advantage with a late surge.

Greg Hawkins' Webb, a five-year-old New York-bred son of English Channel, earned his first victory over jumps with a front-running score under apprentice Mell Boucher in the $25,000 Thompson Memorial maiden special weights hurdle at 2 1/8 miles.

Trained by Hall of Famer Janet Elliot – who campaigned Webb's dam, The Grey Express, also owned by Hawkins – Webb opened up a fast lead of as much as a dozen lengths and faced a stiff challenge at the final fence from Runnymoore Racing's Fit For A King and Mark Watts. But Fit For A King was a faller after which Webb had to withstand a spirited bid by Northwoods Stable's Look North and Jamie Bargary, who was three-quarters of a length short of the winner.

Fresh off a 16-race career on the flat, Donald Reuwer's Brown Delivers, with Jamie Bargary in the saddle, assumed the lead on the second time around the course and repelled a furious rally by Irv Naylor's Westerland, with Gerard Galligan, in the finale, a $10,000 maiden starter hurdle, to score by 2 3/4 lengths. Joe Davies was the winning trainer, and the victory was enough for Bargary to be named the meet's leading jockey. Bargary had a total of two wins and two seconds on the five race card.

The post Steeplechase: Awakened, Elusive Exclusive Shine In Radnor Features appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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