23rd Lady Canterbury attracts field of nine; Mystic Lake Mile with 11
Two of Canterbury Park’s premier races, each offering a $100,000 purse, will be run Saturday: the Lady Canterbury Stakes and the Mystic Lake Mile. Both will be run at one mile on the turf course as part of a 10-race program that begins at 12:45 p.m.
The Lady Canterbury, now in its 23rd running, dates back to 1986 when it was the first race ever run on the Shakopee, Minn. racetrack’s grass course. The race was won by Allen Paulson’s Sauna with Chris McCarron aboard.
On Saturday, Mac Robertson, who won the Lady Canterbury in 2007 with Honour Colony, will saddle the 5 to 2 morning line favorite Stoupinator. The 5-year-old mare, owned by Joe Novogratz of Excelsior, Minn., is undefeated on this turf course and most recently won the $75,000 Minnesota HBPA Distaff on June 6. Canterbury’s leading jockey Dean Butler will be aboard.
Other notables in the nine-horse field include Parc Monceau, saddled by Bill Mott, who won this race in 2003 with Stylish, and Notte d’Oro, who finished less than a length behind Stoupinator on June 6 and is trained by Michael Stidham, a two-time Lady Canterbury winning trainer.
The co-featured Mystic Lake Mile originated in 2013. This year’s 11-horse field includes the winners of the first two editions: Mister Marti Gras, who won the inaugural Mystic Lake Mile, and Az Ridge, last year’s winner.
Eduardo Perez, based at Arlington Park in Chicago, has the mount on Mister Marti Gras for trainer Chris Block. Local rider Geovanni Franco will ride Az Ridge, winner of four consecutive races, for Dan McFarlane.
Dorsett, whose last win was in the 2013 Mystic Lake Derby, will be reunited with jockey Lori Keith who was aboard for that win nearly two years ago.
The Lady Canterbury Stakes and the Mystic Lake Mile will be run as the eighth and ninth races respectively.
Canterbury Park will be giving away a craft beer glass to the first 4,000 adults. General admission is $8. Children 17 and younger are admitted free. Parking is free. Gates open at 11:30 a.m.
