Santa Anita delayed its autumn race meet due to fires in the nearby hills but commences Friday at 2:30 p.m. with a 10-race program that includes the G3 Chillingsworth Stakes and the G2 Eddie D.
On Saturday, Santa Anita rolls out five graded stakes, all with Breeders’ Cup implications: G2 Chandelier, G1 Rodeo Drive, G1 American Pharoah, G2 John Henry Turf and the G1 Awesome Again. The $300,000 Awesome Again attracted only five runners but the quality is high and it is the second leg of the late pick five wager. Both Maximum Security and Improbable are entered by Bob Baffert. Of local interest is Sleepy Eyes Todd whose second and third career wins came at Canterbury Park in the summer of 2019.
The 4-year-old colt is trained by Miguel Angel Silva and is owned by Thumbs Up Racing. His most recent effort was a gate to wire win in the G2 $600,000 Charles Town Classic, providing the first graded stakes win for the horse and the trainer who has maintained a stable at Canterbury for several seasons.
Top CBY Quarter Horse Connections Compete At Prairie Meadows Friday and Saturday
Trainers Jason Olmstead and Ed Ross Hardy, fixtures in Shakopee, are well represented at Prairie Meadows on their premiere evenings of quarter horse racing Friday and Saturday. Olmstead saddles the morning line favorite in both the G3 $218k Valley Junction Futurity , Signs of a Blue Moon, and the Iowa bred $137k Jim Bader Futurity, Cr Appollitical Joe.
Olmstead also placed Minnesota bred Pyc Jess Bite Mydust in the 440 yard Two Rivers Stakes, a Grade 3 with a $35,000 purse on Friday.
Hardy has the favorite, B Booujee, in Friday’s second, the Valley Junction Juvenile consolation. He will also face Olmstead Saturday in the Jim Bader with Df Fabulous Flare.
Owner and breeder Dan Kjorsvik never ducks a challenge, with quarter horses or thoroughbreds. His Q, Holy Storm will run in Friday’s opener, the Grade 3 Covered Bridges at 870 yards. Bred by Kjorsvik in Minnesota, Holy Storm improved when trying the hook, winning a pair at Remington this spring and another at Prairie. A troubled trip last time earns him a shot Friday where he faces a horse familiar to Canterbury fans, Faster Than Hasta for Bob Johnson. He too found a new calling at 870 with two impressive wins at the distance this year in Iowa.
Robertson Runners Surface at Arlington
If you are reading this Thursday morning, note that several Mac Robertson runners can now be found at Arlington Park running under his father Hugh’s name including three on Thursday. All the action can be bet in the Canterbury Park Racebook where there is plenty of spacing for the racing.
