Mr. Jagermeister, the Canterbury Park 2018 Horse of the Year, makes his 4-year-old debut Saturday in the $75,000 Phoenix Gold Cup, the seventh race that day at Turf Paradise. The Minnesota-bred colt drew post four in the six-horse field that includes three trained by Robertino Diodoro. However one of his, Bourbon Cowboy, is training at Oaklawn and has been entered there on that same day. That may whittle the field to five.
Mr. Jagermeister is the 6 to 5 morning line favorite and will be ridden by Leandro Goncalves who was aboard the colt for all four 2018 Canterbury wins. “I’m happy I’ve got Leandro,” trainer Valorie Lund said. She indicated that the jockey is fully committed and had booked a flight weeks earlier.
Lund is hoping there are no other defections from the race. She wants the race to flow naturally and often when fields get to four or fewer, quirky things can happen.
“It will be interesting see what everyone does,” she said.
Lund is confident in Mr. Jagermeister and has him ready to run this race. A good performance Saturday opens a world of possibilities for 2019.
Bet the Phoenix Gold Cup in the Canterbury Racebook. Estimated post time is 4:55 p.m. central.
