SHAKOPEE, MN – The last night of live racing kicks off at Canterbury Park at 4:10 PM CT tonight. The featured race on the closing night card is the $30,000 Shakopee Juvenile.
EDIT: UPDATED FOR SCRATCH
The local favorite is Rhyme Away. Owned by Carin Offerman and trained by Troy Bethke, Rhyme Away has proven herself to be worthy of her status as the sales topper in the 2025 Minnesota Horse Sale, nearly doubling her $40,000 in her first year of action. She won a staggering debut at home with the fastest 4.5 furlong time of the season. She headed to Iowa to battle the boys in the Iowa Stallion Auction Futurity where she finished second before coming home to dominate the Northern Lights Debutante.
Rhyme Away will team up again with Manny Americano to face nearly all boys again in the Juvenile.
The other filly in the race, My Kid’s Said No, is the morning line favorite for the Juvenile. A very speedy daughter of Omaha Beach, My Kid’s Said No is trained by the red-hot Tena Birdwell. Birdwell is new to Canterbury this year but has made her mark, especially in the last few weeks where she’s picked up five of her eight local victories.
After a blistering debut at Gulfstream Park she headed to Prairie Meadows where the Kid led until late in the Prairie Gold Lassie. She bounced back in a trip north of the border where she went gate to wire to win the Assiniboia Debutante in a romp. Back in Iowa for the Prairie Meadows Debutante, she ran a very similar race to her race in the Lassie, breaking well but getting passed late to once again finish third to Wild Vekoma.
The pair of fillies are fast and will be tough to beat but seven boys will line up to take their shot.
Blazin Spirit, Strike One More and Twin City Boy, the second through fourth finishers in the Northern Lights Futurity behind phenom Merit Badge, will all be in the gate to face the fillies.
From a Beyer Speed Figure perspective, only Twin City Boy has run a figure close to being able to compete with the ladies, notching a 60 in his debut effort before throwing in a clunker in Futurity. He’ll add blinkers for the race today. Sashin Parris will take the reins from Luis Fuentes who will be aboard I Got A Fast Car for his brother, trainer Rueben Fuentes.
BEHIND THE REINS
On Thursday night Canterbury Park hosted a special screening of “Behind the Reins” a short form documentary from local filmmaker, Adam Zuehlke that explores the relationship between Canterbury Hall of Fame rider Scott Stevens and multiple leading rider Harry Hernndez.
“I was reading an article by Rachel Blount in the Star Tribune that really moved me,” said Zuelke. “I called her and said, ‘I have to make a film about this.’”
Blount provided Zuelke with the necessary contacts and the project began.
The 16-minute documentary covers a recap of Stevens career and how spill at Canterbury nearly claimed his life. On that day in 2010, he was airlifted from Canterbury Park with collapsed lungs and severe injuries but returned to win in his first race back nearly five months later at Turf Paradise.
The film follows Stevens through his retirement as a race rider and a chance encounter with Hernandez that led to a very successful partnership and mentorship with Stevens representing Hernandez for several years as his agent.
“There is no Harry without Scott,” says Hernandez in the film, but it’s clear that the respect and admiration is mutual.
You can check the film out at the Eagan Film Fest September 25 & 26 and the Twin Cities Film Festival on October 16.
