By Noah Joseph
On Monday, Shadow Rock won the $50,000 Honor the Hero Stakes at Canterbury Park. That win was just one of several stakes winners at the Shakopee, Minn. racetrack for trainer Michael Maker. Maker is a nationally acclaimed trainer who has horses, and wins races all over the country. During the past few years, Maker has made his presence felt at Canterbury, particularly in stakes races. Including Shadow Rock’s win on Monday, Maker has won six stakes at Canterbury since 2013, including the Lady Canterbury twice with Awesome Flower.
Prior to those wins, Maker was, and remains, the king of the Claiming Crown. When it was held at Canterbury, Maker entered horses in almost every race, and had two that that went on to greater success. The first was Furthest Land. After being claimed for $35,000 in 2008, Furthest Land won several races afterwards. Although he finished fourth in the 2009 Claiming Crown Jewel, he went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile that same year. The other horse was Headache. After winning the 2010 Claiming Crown Jewel at Canterbury, Headache won two graded races and even ran in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Mike Maker is a truly accomplished trainer and is greatly respected by the racing community. Shadow Rock gave him another Canterbury win, but as we approach the big stakes races of the meet, look for many horses trained by Maker to be nominated, and expect at least one to be entered in all of them.
Noah Joseph is a longtime Canterbury Park and horse racing fan. He’s been attending races at Canterbury since 2000 when he was 3 years old and has enjoyed every minute of it. Noah provides a weekly piece on CanterburyLive.com.
