Olmstead’s 16-year-old son Ryder seeks first stakes win
The Olmstead name has become synonymous with quarter horse racing over the past decade at Canterbury Park. Trainer Jason Olmstead has won the training title 11 consecutive seasons becoming the all-time earnings leader with $4,783,169 in purses and second all-time in wins, making 248 visits to the winner’s circle. Olmstead’s wife Amber Olmstead, née Blair, also a multiple graded stakes winning trainer earlier in the 2000s, won 63 races at Canterbury, seventh best in track history. While the horses do not run under her name, Amber oversees the New Mexico division of the Olmstead operation that includes more than 100 horses in training across four states.
Now add to the roster Ryder Olmstead, the 16-year-old son of Amber and Jason, who began his career as a quarter horse jockey in March. He recorded his first win June 8 at Prairie Meadows riding an Olmstead trainee. “I’m glad I got to do it for my mom and dad,” Ryder said. The young Olmstead spent many summers in the family shedrow at Canterbury, dreaming of being a jockey. “I wanted to be a jockey since I can remember. It’s all I ever really wanted to do.”
Thursday he will have the opportunity to win for the first time at Canterbury Park and his win first career stake race, riding all four quarter horse races for his father including the morning line favorite Sheza a Sugar Momma in the $29,500 North Star State Futurity and second choice Sophey in the $29,000 North Star State Derby.
The 300-yard Futurity is a nine-horse field of 2-year-old Minnesota-bred maidens, three trained by Haley Hobbs, two each by Olmstead and Tyler Stein, and one each by Vic Hanson and Ed Ross Hardy, Canterbury’s all-time winningest quarter horse trainer with 367 victories.
Sheza a Sugar Momma finished second in a maiden race at Remington Park May 22 earning the highest speed index in this field. The daughter of Hes Relentless is owned by Tom Maher and Paul
Luedemann. Olmstead has trained the North Star State Futurity winner in three of the five renditions.
“I hope this filly fires the same race she did at Remington Park,” Jason Olmstead said. “She’ll win if so.” Both parents plan to be at Canterbury in hopes of seeing Ryder’s first stakes win.
The North Star State Derby field of eight state-bred 3-year-olds is led by Olmstead’s Spicy Cartel with Armando Alvidrez aboard and Sophey who is winless in seven starts. Del Cartel, trained by Hobbs, finished second in last year’s North Star State Futurity beating both Olmstead horses and will be ridden by Gonzalo Gutierrez.
Racing begins at 5 p.m. on Thursday.