SHAKOPEE, MN – A very full weekend at Canterbury included the 33rd Minnesota Festival of Champions, the Minnesota Bred Yearling Sale and the All-Breed Dog Championship of the World (the Bark in the Park). We won’t touch on the last one here except to say that the riotous finish was picked up by national news outlets and shown the media spotlight on Shakopee…albeit not for our racing.
In part one today, we’ll tackle Festival night.
NOTE: All photo credit are Coady Media.
The Baby Races: $80,000 Northern Lights Debutante and Futurity (6 Furlongs; Dirt)
Rhyme Away, the 2025 Minnesota yearling sale topper, headed into the gate for the Debutante as the 1/9 favorite and there was no drama with the outcome. She took the lead under Manny Americano for trainer Troy Bethke and never looked back, winning by 9 ¼ lengths in 1:11.67 and made it look effortless.
“Going into the race, the filly does everything good,” said Bethke. “We knew that she was pretty fast but there were other horses that could have gotten better too. It made me a little nervous down the backstretch when they were so close to her.”
“It’s really been an uneventful season, which is a good thing,” said winning owner Carin Offerman who purchased the filly for $48,000. “She’s just cool as a cucumber. She walks out to her gallop in the morning, goes like lightning and then walks back on a loose rein, she has that kind of personality.”
Rhyme Away paid $2.10 for the win. Minny for the Max ($2.40) was second and Charlies Mint ($2.40) was third.
Rhyme Away validated the faith that Offerman put in her with a resounding victory. Bred by Cheryl Sprick and Rick Bremer, the win set the duo up with the possibility, for the second time in three years, to have bred both the female and male Northern Lights champion.
In the Futurity, odds on favorite Merit Badge went to post wearing the green and red apple silks of her breeder/owners Sprick and Bremer. Manny Americano was aboard for trainer Anna Meah.
Early on, Merit Badge made sure that there was no doubt that the breeders would again pull off the Deb/Futurity breeding double. He took control of the race early and drew off to win by 14 ½ lengths.
“This horse is special,” said assistant trainer David Meah. “We can run him anywhere. If we didn’t run here, we were seriously thinking about running him in the Iroquois at Saratoga.”
“We had this horse in two sales,” said co-owner/breeder Sprick. “We had him in a weanling sale in Kentucky and when he didn’t sell there we brought him here for the sale but he didn’t meet his reserve. We kept him and decided to race him ourselves because we thought he could be special. David and Anna Meah have done an absolutely wonderful job with him.”
The Turfers: $55,000 Princess Elaine and Blair’s Cove (Mile and a Sixteenth; Turf)
The biggest question for Cupid‘s Crush was her conditioning after being off since Valentine’s Day but Canterbury Hall of Fame trainer had Cupid ready to crush.
“If she’s fit, there is no mare that can touch her,“ said Mike McGowan, co-owner of Xtreme Racing stables. “I spoke with Mac last night and he said, don’t worry she’s fit.“
She broke sharply and jockey Julio Hernandez took her to the lead and got her settled coming past the grandstand for the first time. As they bent into the first turn, she was running easily and the duo was keeping the pace reasonable.
She managed that 2 to 3 length lead over the field heading down the backstretch. Jockey Eduardo Gallardo and Vintage Port tried to stay close with the leader heading into the far turn, but Cupid was having none of it. As they straightened for home, Hernandez shook the reins and she was gone, winning by 5 ¼ lengths, paying $2.10 across the board as the one to nine favorite.
“She had a pretty demanding campaign and really needed some time off,” said McGowan of the layoff. “Mac did a great job getting her ready.”
Vintage Port ($2.60) was clear in second and Flatter Me Billy was third. The race was run in 1:42.55.
With that performance, Cupid‘s Cush showed she’s back in form and a visit to Keeneland next, where she won last year, could be on the schedule.
In a night where speed was king, Sushi Man broke on top in the Blair’s Cove and repelled foe after foe, including even money favorite and 2025 Horse of the Meet, Frosty View, eventually winning by a clear 3 ¾ lengths in 1:42.18. In one of the few upsets of the night, albeit a mild one, Sushi Man paid $6.60 to win.
“(Manny) Americano being the leading rider, I really didn’t have to say much,” said winning trainer Coty Rosin. “Frosty View got slammed out of the gate and Sushi Man ended up on the lead right where he really wants to be, and he did the rest.”
Sushi Man is owned and was bred by One Bid Stables.
Victorious Vanda ($5.00) was second and 18-1 Found Jordan ($6.80) was third.
The Sprints: $55,000 Crocrock Sprint and Bella Notte Distaff Sprint (6 Furlongs; Dirt)
The Crocrock Minnesota sprint championship was another chapter in the rivalry between Distorted Pro and Street Warrior.
In the 2025 Crocrock, Distorted Pro was able to get the win over his rival by getting the lead and holding onto it late.
Street Warrior turned the tables in the 10,000 Lakes Stakes in June and it wasn’t close, defeating Distorted Pro by 10 ¼ lengths. The rubber match today in the Minnesota sprint was another one-sided affair with Street Warrior and Constantino Roman claiming the lead and never looking back, wearing down all three rivals to gallop off and win by five.
Street Warrior was 1/5 and finished the six furlongs in 1:09.25.
“This has been an interesting summer with him,” said trainer Joel Berndt. “After the 10,000 Lakes, we had a hard time finding a race for him so we tried a turf sprint. That didn’t go so well so we came back to the dirt.”
In that optional $30,000 claiming race Street Warrior finished third, beaten five lengths as the odds-on favorite.
“That first dirt race back didn’t go great, but he made up for it today,” smiled Berndt.
It’s Bobs Business ($4.80) was second with Distorted Pro third.
Street Warrior is owned and was bred by Novogratz Racing Stable.
In the final race of the evening, 3-year-old phenom Summer Winner entered the Bella Notte Distaff Sprint to face older fillies and mares for the first time. The assignment for the Tim Padilla/Pete Mattson homebred was a tough one, going up against one of the best female sprinters in Minnesota history, Thunders Rocknroll.
Thunders Rocknroll was the defending Bella Notte champion, won four of six this season with a pair of stakes wins and had amassed 14 wins and $512,137 in earnings in her career.
The Minnesota Oaks champion was up for the challenge. She and Thunders Rocknroll broke well and the two went head and head down the Canterbury backstretch and came into the stretch trading the lead with each head bob, Finally, with about a 1/16th of a mile to go, the 3-year-old edged clear to win by a length and a quarter at 5/2.
The plan all along was to take it to the defending champion according to co- breeder/owner Pete Mattson.
“She’s a sprinter and we figured that cutting back from a mile and 70 yards in the Oaks that she could last, so we took it to her,” said Mattson.
Summer Winner crossed the wire in the interesting time of 1:11.11 and returned $6.80 to her backers. Thunders Rocknroll ($2.10) was able to hold off the hard charging Mitole Princess ($4.60) for third.
Mattson closed the interview and the evening with a request to Canterbury horsemen and patrons.
“When you vote in November, make sure who you are voting for will help Canterbury stay in existence.”
Festival Day Handle
On Track: $ 179,275.40
Out of State: $ 1,020,710.76
Total: $ 1,199,986.16
