SHAKOPEE, MN – The 2025 Quarter Horse season at Canterbury kicks off Wednesday night with a pair of state bred stakes: the 400-yard North Star State Derby and the 300-yard North Star State Futurity. The top Quarter Horse owners, breeders and trainers are well represented in both stakes which are races eight and nine on the card.
North Star State Derby
The winner of the 2024 Minnesota Futurity, Corey Wilmes homebred, Eos Keep Dreamin will make her seasonal debut in the Derby. She finished up her 2024 season with a pair of wins and has been prepping with Canterbury Hall of Fame trainer Ed Ross Hardy in Oklahoma in preparation for her season.
Trainer Tyler Stein has a pair entered in the race including the 5/2 morning line favorite, Jjs Sweet and Sassy. In her only start this season, she earned a field best last race speed index of 79 in winning a Remington Park allowance on May 1st.
Breeder/owner Tom Maher bred a pair of entries in the Derby: co-owning Shes Hell Bent with Paul Leudemann and trained by Canterbury Hall of Famer Jason Olmstead; and Relentless Deal, the other Stein trained entry.
Olmstead also trains the 3-1 second choice, Da Lie Lah, bred and owned by Lunderborg LLC and runner up to Eos Keep Dreaming in last year’s Minnesota Futurity.
Haley Hobbs trains a duo including L Conejo, who has run three solid races already this season in Oklahoma while Jerry Livingston trained Thirty Four Below will round out the field.
North Star State Futurity
As to be expected this early in the season, several of the hopefuls in the Futurity will be making their career debuts. Trainers Olmstead and Stein have three entries each in the race with Olmstead training the 5/2 morning line favorite, Sophey, a Lunderborg LLC homebred.
Sophey just missed in her career opener at Remington Park on May 10, earning a field high 56 Speed Index and has trained sharply coming into the race.
The only winner of the group, Del Cartel, is trained by Haley Hobbs and was bred and is co-owned by Cesar Albino. He led gate to wire in a May 28th maiden race at Remington Park, clocking a 55 Speed Index, just behind that of rival, Sophey.
The first weekday card of the season heads postward at 5:10 PM with the Quarter Horse action commencing at approximately 8:40 PM.
