By The Oracle
We are nearing the halfway point of the 2017 Canterbury Park live racing season. Here is a look inside-the-numbers at what has transpired on the race track so far.. The following statistics are for thoroughbred races only.
The Odds:
Favorites are winning 35% of the thoroughbred races at Canterbury Park. This is two percentage points below the national average for this year, and four percentage points below the 2016 Canterbury meet. A smaller percentage of winning favorites can lead to larger payoffs! The maiden special weight category has been the most formful so far, yielding 16 winning favorites from 36 races (44%). However, this category also unleashed a 55-1 longshot winner on May 6, a horse named Lookin Ata Runaway. This filly was making her first start as a 3-year-old, was trained by Tony Rengstorf and ridden by Jareth Loveberry. Congratulations to those connections!
Historically, turf racing at Canterbury Park has yielded a lower percentage of winning favorites than races on the main track. This is holding true this year, as favorites on the turf are winning at a 30% rate compared to 36% winning favorites on the dirt.
Regarding extreme longshots, there have been nine 20-1 and up winners this year. Of those nine, four were in turf races and five were on the main track. This is significant as there are many fewer turf races run than dirt races. Look for longshots on the Canterbury turf course!
The Jockeys:
Looking at the top ten jockeys in the standings so far, the All-Star performer for best return-on-investment (ROI) was Jareth Loveberry. Jareth is currently tied for the lead in the standings with Orlando Mojica with 31 wins, and he is returning an impressive $1.23 for every dollar wagered on his mounts. Loveberry is a new rider to Canterbury Park this year, and the fans may have been focusing more on the established local names like Dean Butler and Alex Canchari. Loveberry has done his best work on the main track this year, winning 26 of his 31 races on that surface, including that 55-1 longshot discussed above. Horses like that definitely help the ROI!
Orlando Mojica is also having an excellent meet. Mojica did very well last year in his first season at Canterbury Park, and he has continued to excel this year. He is winning at a 22% rate over the turf course (11/50) and is showing a flat bet profit on that surface of 31%.
Alex Canchari deserves a mention as his 21% win percentage is best among the top ten riders. Due to injury, Alex has had fewer mounts than the jockeys atop the standings, but he could be poised for a strong second half of the meet. Alex was especially reliable with favorites in the first half, winning at a 44% rate (12/27), and he is quite capable of going on a tear and getting in contention for leading rider.
The Trainers:
The top ten trainer list had three trainers achieving a positive ROI at the midway mark. Tony Rengstorf got the All-Star award with 12 wins from 67 starts, achieving an ROI of $1.80 for every dollar wagered. This was due mainly to the 55-1 winner on May 6 described above. He has excelled in dirt sprints (10/39, ROI = $2.87) and maiden races (5/18, ROI = $4.73), but is currently 0/12 on the turf. Seven of those turf runners did finish in the top 3, however.
Francisco Bravo has also had a very good first half, winning 16 races with an ROI of $1.23. His best category was claiming races, winning with 5 of 20 runners (ROI = $2.29) including a 20-1 winner named Awesome Emmit on June 30 in a claiming race that was moved from the turf to the main track. Jockey Quincy Hamilton was aboard that one. Bravo has also done extremely well in maiden claiming races, winning with 5 of 9 runners (56%) for an ROI of $2.12.
McLean Robertson has been the dominant trainer this year at Canterbury Park, as his 29 wins from 114 starters nearly doubles the win total of the second-place trainer in the standings. Not only is Robertson leading in terms of win percentage (25%), he is also showing an ROI of $1.10 for every dollar wagered on each of his starters. That’s a rare achievement for a trainer who is so well known by the local bettors. Robertson is winning the big money races too, as 22 of his 29 wins have come in Allowance or Stakes races. He even slipped a 23-1 shot past the crowd on July 3, when Teddy Time ran down A.P is Loose to win the Blair’s Cove Stakes on the turf with Quincy Hamilton aboard. That was an easy name play exacta box for Vikings fans!
Summary:
That’s a brief look at how the favorites fared and who the top jockeys and trainers were over the first half of the Canterbury Park live meet from an ROI perspective. Good luck in the second half of the meet!
Photo provided by Coady Photography
