Six-year-old quarter horse Dickey Bob is the 6 to 5 favorite in Wednesday’s $39,200 Cash Caravan Stakes, a race he has won two of the past three years. The Minnesota-bred had to settle for second in 2019 when beaten a neck by his older full-brother Pyc Jess Bite Mydust. Seems fair, as Dickey Bob got the best of Bite Mydust in ’18 and then again in 2020 when the elder was second both times to his younger brother.
Dickey Bob won a race at Prairie Meadows Aug. 7. The earnings pushed his career total to $279,736, the most ever earned by a Minnesota-bred quarter horse. Who is second, you ask? Pyc Jess Bite Mydust with $274,662.
The two were bred and are owned by Bruce and Judy Lunderborg; both trained by Jason Olmstead. Both are out of the mare Paint Or More by Apollitical Jess. Bite Mydust is now retired. He is being trained to be a pony horse for Olmstead according to Bruce Lunderborg. He expects to see him working in his second career next year.
Owning the top two money earners in state racing history is something the Lunderborgs are proud of. “Right time, right pedigree,” said Bruce, who expects Dickey Bob to race again next season.
But first there is the 2021 Cash Caravan Wednesday, restricted to state breds, Race 9 on a 10-race program that begins at 5:10 p.m. Edwin Escobedo, leading jockey at Canterbury, will break from post four as the favorite in the seven-horse field. Dickey Bob has beaten most everyone in the race. However on May 31, Fire N Guns got his nose in front on the wire in the 350-yard Bob Morehouse Stakes, defeating Dickey Bob who had won the Morehouse three consecutive times. Could that suggest a potential upset? The Wednesday distance is 400 yards. Dickey Bob has won three of five starts at that distance while the six foes have a combined zero wins.
One race prior is the 1889 Futurity with a $23,400 purse, now in its third rendition. The 350-yard race is restricted to 2-year-olds bred in North Dakota or South Dakota. Trainer Bob Johnson won the race in 2019 and 2020. He will saddle two this year including 3 to 1 morning line favorite Ima Freighttrain B who most recently won the NDQHRA Futurity in Fargo. Mallory Norton has two, Lexon Backhaus three, and Olmstead, Mark Wilson and Tyler Stein one each.
The Stein runner Relentless Dream is a maiden but stands a chance in The 1889 having exited the ultra-tough MQHRA Futurity. The top two from that race won next out including SW the Redeemer who beat Relentless Dream by a length going 250 yards. Stein is not confident his horse is best at 350 yards but also was disappointed that he did not run better on the distance cut back. If nothing else, he may hold a class edge over the others who have been completing in Fargo and at Chippewa Downs. Relentless Dream is 15 to 1 on the morning line. The 20-year-old Stein is second leading trainer this summer, well behind Jason Olmstead who may as well have picked up the champion trainer trophy when the meet began.
