WHO NEEDS SLEEPING PILLS
The press box was buzzing after the fourth race in appreciation of the ride Paul Nolan put on the Troy Bethke-trained Booster. Nolan took the eight-year-old gelding wire-to-wire in a classic demonstration of how to put the rest of the field to sleep.
“That was absolutely fantastic,” said announcer Paul Allen. “It doesn’t get any better.”
This was the racetrack’s version of reading a bedtime story to the kids, and Nolan had his opponents nodding off while watching him cantor along at an easy pace in front of them.
He guided Booster through soporific fractions of 24 for the quarter, 1:14 3/5 for six furlongs and 1:41.4 for the mile.
Uncle Brother, owned, trained and ridden by the Olesiak clan, engaged the winner on the turn, but Nolan simply let out a bit of rein and then added the right-handed stick 10 times down the lane. Booster responded to the reminder by digging into a deep reserve after an easy run. Booster, owned by Rodney Miller of Howard Lake, rewarded his backers with a nice payback of $14.80 to win.
IT’S TOO LATE TO CLOSE THE BARN DOOR NOW
Vince Reedy could only shake his head and wonder.
Reedy saddled the winner of the second race on Sunday, a 5-year-old gelding named Minnesota Slew who was ridden by Derek Bell, Canterbury’s leading rider.
Never hurts to get another win, particularly when you have a stable as small as Reedy’s.
So how small is small.
Minnesota Slew was claimed by trainer Mike Bolinger and that left Reedy with an empty barn.
Reedy arrived at Canterbury from Tampa, Fla., with four horses and they were all claimed during the meet. Minnesota Slew was the last.
What does a guy do next.
“I guess I’ll have to start looking for some horses,” Reedy said. “We don’t know what we’re going to do. I need to take a couple of days to get something together.”
The win was the second for the Reedy barn from nine starts. There were also three seconds and a third for earnings of $19,080.
JAKE HAD A PLANE TO CATCH
Jake Mauer, a member of the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame, has been handicapping the horses and selling his tip sheets since the track opened in 1985, but he had to cut the day a bit short on Sunday.
He had a plane to catch.
Jake, for those who don’t know him, is a grandfather to Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer, who is playing in the All-Star game Tuesday night in New York.
The game has a lot of historic significance. It is being played in Yankee Stadium, erected in 1923 and in its final season.
Jake and numerous other members of the Mauer clan are getting the royal treatment from Joe, who is treating them to a memorable getaway.
“We’ll have a limousine, all the best. We’ll have a wonderful time,” said Jake. That’s what you call trip handicapping.
IT’S A FIRST FOR THE FAUCHALD BARN
It’s been a while a comin’, as they say, but it’s never too late. P.C. Fauchald has saddled 15 horses this meet and he got his first winner on Sunday.
A most appropriate win at that.
Storybook Doll broke her maiden under A. Preto Espindola in the card opener. The horse is owned by Robin Fauchald of Monticello, P.C.’s daughter.
“We aren’t exactly blowing them away out here,” P.C. said. “But this makes it really special, since it’s Robin’s horse.”
There are 15 horses in the Fauchald barn, and P.C. now has a win, a second and a third for earnings of $9,221.
A resident of New London-Spicer, he was headed home Sunday afternoon with no specific celebration planned.
“Going home is good enough,” he said.
NO BETTER WAY TO SPEND A BIRTHDAY
Wille Tuvey couldn’t think of a better place to be for her 100th birthday celebration on Sunday. A regular at Canterbury, Wille gets to the windows on her own and clearly loves the racetrack.
Wille lives in Watertown and graduated in 1925 from Waconia High School. The paddock was busting at the seams as family and friends gathered after the race to honor Wille.
NOTES AND QUOTES:
Belen Quinonez, younger brother to Luis, who won five consecutive riding titles at Canterbury, was in town on Sunday for the seventh race, an allowance optional claiming event at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
Quinonez has a ways to go to catch his older brother, but nobody in Sunday’s seven-horse field could catch him before the wire. Quinonez took Ghazi Up, trained by Gary Paulson, to the winner’s circle for a $19.20 win.
Tequila Two Step, a four-year-old filly, broke her maiden in the eighth race under Adolfo Morales. It was the fourth winner of the racing week sired by 2001 Horse of the Year Shot of Gold.
