SHAKOPEE, MN – Tonight features four “Made in Minnesota” stakes for Minnesota breds including the $100,000 Minnesota Oaks and Minnesota Derby.  The fields are small with seemingly big favorites, but there may be some surprises on the evening as well.

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The stakes kick off in the sixth with the $100,000 Minnesota Derby going a mile and 70 yards over the dirt.  The big favorite looks to be Thealligatorhunter, the Vic Myers champion and winner of five races and $124,625.  He finished first four in a row (DQ’d last out versus older).  He dueled hard in that race over the mile and was still able to finish off his rivals.  He certainly will be hard to beat.

Don’t sleep on Kid’s Inheritance, however.  While the Goldencents gelding may have Beyers that are a cut below his top rival, he beat older state breds handily two back going two turns.  He didn’t fare as well on the cut back in the Myers, but he gets the extra distance again and is going to be a factor late, especially if Bayou Benny uses his early speed to soften up Thealligatorhunter early.

A lot of attention has been paid to Sota King, the Minnesota bred son of American Pharoah who was fifth in his debut after a rough start.  He gets blinkers for this effort but will really have to step it up to threaten the top two.  He did fire a bullet work on August 11, going a minute and 2/5 for five furlongs.

The three-year-old fillies take the track next in the $100,000 Minnesota Oaks, also to be contested a mile and 70 yards.

Multiple stakes winner Star of the North is 3-5 on the morning line and looks to be tough to beat.  She’s won seven in a row over two seasons with five stakes wins and $261,100 in earnings.  Her first try around two turns and against older was not a problem for the stellar filly, taking a $36,000 state bred allowance. 

Both Hell of the North and That Would Be Nice have both tried to go with the speedy star and were both put away with relative ease.

The older horses close out the all stakes pick 4 with a pair of $50,000 stakes, the Wally’s Choice and the Glitter Star.

The eighth will be the Wally’s Choice, a mile and a sixteenth over the main track.

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Cinco Star, fresh off a win in the off the turf Ralph Strangis at a mile, will stretch out another sixteenth for the Wally’s Choice.  He has good early speed but won’t be left alone, not with Drop of Golden Sun on his inside.  These two have beaten up on each other, with Drop of Golden Sun winning this race last year and seems to have the edge in longer races.

Dame Plata, winner of nine of twenty-two and over $313,951 has beaten Drop of Golden Sun once, at mile, while he’s fallen to that foe twice at the race distance of a mile and a sixteenth.

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Ready to Runaway dominated in the Glitter Star last year, drawing off to win by eight and a half lengths, crushing stablemate Clickbait in the process.  Ready to Runaway is on a two-race winning streak, including the off-the-turf Minnesota Distaff Turf, where she again outlasted her stablemate.  Clickbait picked up a stakes victory herself this season, kicking off the local season with a win in the Lady Slipper, a six-furlong sprint.

Defend the Rose is one for two this season in open events, but the distance my prove problematic for her.  However, she should set the pace early in this one and give everyone a target.

Hotasapistol has had a difficult time replicating her stakes winning 2020 season but finally put it all together last out in an open $20,000 optional claiming race where stalked the early pace and scored by two and 3/4 lengths.  She won the Minnesota Oaks a mile and 70 last season as well as finishing second in this race, so there is a precedent for her to be able to stretch out and be successful.

Mac Robertson decided to keep confirmed turfer, Shabam, in an off-the-turf optional claimer on August 8 where she stalked and pounced to win, giving the team the confidence to stay on the dirt in this spot, stretching her out another 16^th of a mile.

First post of the evening is 5:10 PM with the stakes starting in race 6, featuring an all stakes pick 4.