Jockey Kelsi Harr made her career riding debut a winning one when she guided Bandit Point to a one length victory in the third race on Father’s Day for trainer Robert Cline.
The 25-year-old from Arkansas positioned her charge just off the pace and swung into action in the stretch to challenge the favorite, R H Smoakem, who quickly folded as Bandit Point, at 11 to 1 odds, pulled away. Harr was greeted in the winner’s circle by other members of the jockey colony who, as is the tradition when a rider gets her first win, doused Harr in water and talcum powder.
Ziggy!!!
One race after Harr won, a very familiar face to long-time Minnesota race fans also found the winner’s circle: Mike Ziegler. Ziggy was a fixture on the scene here from 1995 through 2007. He returned to Canterbury this season primarily to gallop horses, knowing he would pick up an occasional mount as well. His first such mount was a winner on Andrea’s Halo for trainer Joe Merrick. Sunday’s win was the 377th at Canterbury for Ziegler, 52, and the 2,501th in a career that began in 1987.
