By Katie Merritt
While there aren’t any stakes at Canterbury this weekend, there are a few very competitive allowance races carded. Tonight, the 3rd race, a six furlong allowance for Minnesota-breds, three and up, is highlighted by Mac Robertson-trained Glacken’s Ghost. The four-year-old gelding is coming into the race off of three consecutive wins at Oaklawn Park this winter, most recently taking an allowance optional claimer by a determined ½ length under rider Alex Canchari. Canchari rode Glacken’s Ghost in all three wins at Oaklawn and is aboard him again on Friday.
The 7th race of the card is also an allowance for three and up, run at a mile. Malibu Max, another Robertson trainee, is the morning-line favorite for the race, coming in off of two game third-place finishes in allowances at Oaklawn after nearly a year off. The Joel Berndt-trained Handy Candy, who most recently finished 5th in a tough allowance race at Keeneland after two second place finishes in allowance optional claimers at Tampa Bay Downs, is a close second choice.
Saturday features a 6 furlong allowance race for Minnesota-bred fillies and mares three and up. It will be the 7th race with a field of eight. Strawberry Bomb, trained by William Martin, is the morning line favorite at 2-1. The four-year-old filly has already won two of four of her races in 2017, and was 3rd in another. Her last start was a disappointing 8th in an allowance at Oaklawn, after a bad start out of the gate. Francisco Bravo’s Stella’s Princess is the 3-1 second choice. She recently finished last in a stake at Will Rogers Downs, but won her prior start, which happened to be an allowance at Canterbury Park last year. Starship Mischief, trained by Berndt, is a hard-trying filly that has run five times at four different tracks and has never finished off the board. Her last race was an easy win in a $15K claimer at Hawthorne, and she is the morning-line third choice.
Even in the absence of stakes action this weekend, these allowance races should be very competitive and exciting for both players and spectators alike!
Milestones on the Horizon
In other news, there are two Canterbury Park staples that are nearing impressive milestones in their careers. Both jockey Nik Goodwin and trainer David Van Winkle are quickly approaching 1,000 wins!
Goodwin currently has 995 wins. His first mount tonight in race 2, Fort Lewis Rivers for trainer Berndt, is 2-1. He rides Danzig Flare who is 6-1 for trainer Miguel Silva in race 6. In race 7, he rides Paschal for Dan McFarlane, also 6-1. On Saturday, he has two mounts: Northland Gold (6-1) in the 2nd for Bruce Riecken and Guska Mon Shoes (4-1) in the 6th for trainer Tammy Hornsby. It’s unlikely for him to win all five and reach 1,000 career victories on Sunday, but it is certain that he will achieve that massive milestone in the very near future.
Van Winkle is sitting at 996 wins. He has Unique Gold (3-1) entered in the 1st race on Friday, and Real Windy (5-1) entered in the 4th race on Saturday. He won’t make it to 1,000 victories this weekend, but he’s got two nice opportunities to get a couple races closer.
Preakness Saturday features a pair of local stakes
Nominations for the May 20 Lady Slipper Stakes and the 10,000 Lakes Stakes close today. Both are six furlong sprints restricted to Minnesota breds with $50,000 purses.
Minnesota Racing Commission to meet Thursday
There will be a Full Commission Meeting on Thursday May 18, 2017 at 4:00 pm. The public is welcome to attend. The meeting will be held at the Ben Pomeroy Student/Alumni Learning Center, Room 213, at the University of Minnesota, 1964 Fitch Ave, St Paul, MN 55108.
Advance Wagering on Preakness and Black-Eyed Susan Next Week
Available Thursday, 5/18/17:
– Advance wagers for Friday’s Pimlico card (Black Eyed Susan is race 11)
– Advance wagers for Saturday’s Pimlico card (Preakness is race 13)
– Black Eyed Susan/Preakness Double Wager (race 11 on Friday and race 13 on Saturday)
Available Friday, 5/19/17:
– Advance wagers for Saturday’s Pimlico card (Preakness is race 13)
– Friday’s Pimlico card (Black Eyed Susan is race 11)
– Black Eyed Susan/Preakness Double Wager (race 11 on Friday and race 13 on Saturday)
Katie Merritt is a senior at the University of Kentucky and currently an intern in the Canterbury Park Press Box. Before returning to school she galloped at several tracks around the country, but spent the majority of her time working for Carl Nafzger and Ian Wilkes.
