BY JIM WELLS
The dew point had an impact just about anywhere you cared to look on Sunday _ in particular, the long lines at the stands serving iced drinks, ice cream, anything with the ingredients you typically find in a freezer.
There was also a lineup for the cold cash up for grabs, $100,000 each in the long revered Lady Canterbury Stakes and the Mystic Lake Mile.
The Lady Canterbury, first run in 1986, has a long storied history. The Mystic Lake Mile, staged for the fourth time, is in the process of becoming a race unto its own.
And, in an interesting scenario, a loser in the first became the winner of the second.
Alex Canchari, currently on top of the rider standings in Shakopee, moved his horse, Secret Someone, up on the turn for home, and cruised past Calypso Run in the stretch drive to win the Lady Canterbury, finishing in 1:36.85.
Trained by Michael Stidham, the winner, and his rider, had to await a stewards’ inquiry and a claim of foul from Calypso Run’s rider, Chris Rosier, before they had their picture taken.
Nonetheless, Canchari said he wasn’t all that concerned. “I was moving past him easily, a hand ride,” Canchari said, confident the result would stand.
Secret Someone finished two lengths in front, and another ¾ length ahead of America Mon Amie.
MYSTIC LAKE MILE
Rosier and trainer Joe Sharp teamed up again in the Mystic Lake Mile and got their pictures taken this time with Aztec Brave, who took advantage of a perfect pace to make his stretch run bid.
Aztec Brave, sent off as the favorite at 2-1, has taken a liking to 100 grand races. He has won three of them and finished second, by a nose in each, in two more. Sunday he hit the wire 1 ½ lengths in front of Granny’s Kitten and Canchari, and another neck in front of Nun the Less in a time of 1:35.95.
“A nice Father’s Day present,” said Sharp, who has two children and another on the way. “This horse has really been something special for us. Chris rode him just right and he came home with that kick of speed.”
“I knew Joe was putting me on some Pony, and I’m not kidding. I learned that quickly out there,” Rosier said.
Thus, the fourth chapter of the Mystic Lake Mile was written, and the 24th of the Lady Canterbury, with its long enduring history that includes names now part of track lore.
The first winner, a filly named Sauna, owned by Paulson and Summa Stables, arrived from the barn of Richard Cross and was ridden by Hall of Fame rider Chris McCarron.
Nature’s Way won next, in 1987, trained by John Parisella and ridden by Nick Santagata, and Balbanella, a filly owned by Maktoum al Maktoum and trained by Neil Drysdale, followed.
That’s generally been the story of the Lady Canterbury, which offered as much as $150,000 in purse money at one time _ a shipper from a strong stable arrives and claims the top prize. Yet, only three favorites have won.
There have been exceptions, and they are part of the Canterbury legacy. The locally stabled Go Go Jack and K Z Bay for starters, as well as Be My Friend in 2004 and Honour Colony in 2007.
Canterbury Park Hall of Fame jockey Scott Stevens rode Go Go Jack to the winner’s circle in 1995, the year racing returned to Shakopee, for trainer Tim Muckler.
The most captivating chapter of this interesting history occurred in 1997, when Paul Nolan rode the 30-1 locally stabled longshot K Z Bay to the winner’s circle for trainer Bob Ryno.
SKIP ZIMMERMAN WINNER SETS WORLD RIGHT
From feast to famine or quite often the reverse .
aA any horsewoman can tell you. Down one day and up the next.
Stacy Charette-Hill can confirm it for you, as she did on Sunday.
She saddled horses in each of the six Mystic Lake Northlands Futurity trials on Saturday. Didn’t get a winner and lost two horses, one permanently.
“I was really disgusted,” she said.
Then, on Sunday, in the $24,000 17th running of the Skip Zimmerman Stakes at 350 yards, the world turned upright again.
Tempting Valor, a second choice to Sudden Separation, got the benefit of drawing the No. 7 hole, as Stacy saw it, and beat the favorite, Sudden Separation, by a length in a time of 17:87.
“We couldn’t have outrun her from an inside spot,” Stacy said. “He’s not a fast horse but doesn’t make mistakes.”
And he didn’t on Sunday, breaking sharply under Jorge Torres. “He got away really good,” said Torres, “and I knew we could win when he did.”
Then, again, how could anyone bet against Charette-Hill in this particular race. Tempting Valor gave her a fourth consecutive win in the Skip Zimmerman.
