Three $50,000 stakes on Wednesday evening’s racing program at Canterbury Park have drawn competitive fields. All three will be run on the turf course provided Mother Nature cooperates. The Minnesota HBPA Distaff with eight entries and Brook Fields with 10 are both run at one mile while the Honor The Hero is at five furlongs and attracted a field of nine. The forecast strongly suggests rain in the Shakopee area on Wednesday. Post time for the first of nine races is 5:10 p.m. CDT. Wednesday’s card is designed to preview the June 22 Northern Stars Turf Festival that will offer $550,000 in turf stakes purses. Wednesday’s stakes, run consecutively, begin in the fifth race, the start of the pick 5 wager which has an industry low 10 percent takeout.
Nine-year-old mare Beach Flower will for the fifth time represent trainer Mac Robertson, who has won seven races with 14 starters over the first three days of the 2022 racing season, in the Minnesota HBPA Distaff. She won the stake in 2017 when the race was moved to the main track and in 2019 over a firm turf course. She finished second in 2018 and last season was second by a head when the race was moved to a sloppy main track. Roimes Chirinos has the mount and has won four races for Robertson thus far. Beach Flower is owned by Hugh Robertson, John Mentz and Jeff Larson.
The Brooks Fields has an interesting pace make-up with several entrants performing best when on or near the early lead. Of those, Tut’s Revenge, a proven miler, is a stakes winner over this course. The 6-year-old is trained by Clinton Stuart for Claim to Fame Stable. Harry Hernandez, the third winningest rider in North America, has the call. Drama Chorus is another that prefers to lead the way. He recently won a $110,000 turf stake at Tampa Bay Downs in gate to wire fashion for owner Peter Mattson. There is some doubt that morning line favorite and graded stakes winner Bizzee Channel and stablemate Buck Moon, both trained by Larry Rivelli, will make the trip from their Chicago base.
Chess Master is 2 to 1 in the Honor The Hero Stakes. Last season’s top jockey Lindey Wade will ride for trainer Kerri Raven. Chess Master has won 10 of 21 turf sprint starts. Trainer Bonnie Lucas has two contenders; Greely and Ben, entered for the main track only, and Shekky Shebaz who has never raced on a dirt surface, but they too may not ship to Canterbury.
Robertson entered Plane Talk and has named Alex Canchari as the rider. Canchari, a Shakopee native and seventh in all-time earnings at Canterbury, is currently second leading rider at the Prairie Meadows meet, however the Altoona, Iowa track is dark Wednesday.
Racing at Canterbury Park continues Thursday and Saturday at 5 p.m. with Sunday racing beginning at 1:00 p.m.