Bloodhorse.com reported yesterday that racehorse owner Robert Lothenbach of Eden Prairie, Minn. was named Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders Association October Member of the Month. Reporter Carly Silver offered a detailed history of the owner and breeder including Lothenbach’s recent success with Grade 1 winner and likely Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint entrant Bell’s the One.
Lothenbach was leading owner this season at Canterbury Park by a wide margin, winning 32 races, 19 more than Danny Caldwell. He finished with a record of 147-32-34-27 and $603,869 in purse earnings. Trainer Joel Berndt was responsible for all 32 victories, ranging from bottom-level claimer to $100,000 state bred stakes.
In 2002, Lothenbach tied with Jer-Mar Stables for leading owner at Canterbury with 14 wins. 
Then he used Pat Cuccurullo, one of the top trainers in track history, and Kelly-Lynn Scott. With 75 starts at Canterbury that season, Lothenbach earned $119,148 campaigning mainly lower level claimers. It was a year where nationally his colors were carried in 407 races, the most starts in a single year for Lothenbach, winning races from Pimlico to Turf Paradise and many places in between, while accumulating $1.123 million in purses. Thus far in 2020, Lothenbach has 324 starters, 48 wins, and $2.011 million in purses.
Berndt began training for Lothenbach Stables, Inc in 2017 although the connection had been made earlier as Lothenbach ran horses at Arlington with trainer Chris Block who put Berndt on the radar. Berndt was not then ready to commit to Shakopee only and was running a split stable with horses at Canterbury and Arlington. In 2017 that changed and his summer focus became Canterbury. “I was ready to make the move,” he said.
The move worked well for both parties.
Berndt continues to train Lothenbach horses at Hawthorne but soon moves to Delta Downs to spend the winter where he will have 25 stalls with about half filled by Lothenbach runners. The
Minnesota breds have been turned out until next spring and hopes are high for the new crop of state breds in 2021. “He has a lot of good Minnesota breds,” Berndt said before running through a list of babies by popular sires. Expect another charge at the owner title when racing returns to Shakopee in May.
