SHAKOPEE, MN – The extended holiday weekend brought the richest Quarter Horse racing of the season to Canterbury Park on Sunday.
The Northlands Juvenile, Bob Morehouse, Canterbury Park Derby and Mystic Lake Northlands Futurity were all run on Sunday afternoon and the biggest plumb of them all went to a Minnesota bred Quarter Horse for only the third time in thirty one runnings.
Jess Doin Time, a 2-year old sorrel Quarter Horse filly (Apollitical Jess-Lenas Rare Lady-Rare Form) was bred and owned by Tom Pouliot of Corcoran, MN and trained by Jason Olmstead, broke alertly under Julian Serrano and never looked back, covering the 350 yards in 17.94 and winning by 3/4 length.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Pouliot. “It’s a whole different feeling. The first time she went out into the pasture we thought she might be something special. She walked out a ways and came running back at us with her head down, like she knew what she was going to be doing. Of course, you never know.”
Jess Doin Time had taken her time getting to the track. She was beset by a cold she couldn’t shake and her first start was delayed.
“It wasn’t anything serious,” said Pouliot. “But we had to wait for her to get well again. Normally we would have had a start at Remington to get ready for the season here but we had to start up here and gear up for this race a little later than we wanted.”
She broke her maiden sharply at the end of November and qualified for the trials in the toughest way possible: over a sloppy track in one of the last trials, the wind turned to her face and out of post position one, a post that has been notoriously unkind to the Quarter Horses thus far this season.
Despite the obstacles, Jess Doin Time finished second in her heat behind the field’s fastest qualifier, Mildred Dickinson. Moving toward the middle of the starting gate for the Futurity, Jess Doin Time led start to finish, paying $39.40 to win. Miss Energy P ($4.60) was second and Maghelene ($4.60) was third, completing the filly sweep of the richest Quarter Horse race on the Canterbury calendar.
Earlier on the card, Serrano also displayed his deft touch with the youngsters, winning the $20,000 Mystic Lake Northlands Juvenile aboard Zoes Sassy Miracle. Owners Lowell, Becky and Lynn Husman name their horses with their children and namesake Zoe Husman was there to enjoy her filly prevail by a neck ($7.20) over Chocolate Paintedkisses ($4.00) in 18.09 for the 350 yards. Dashing Fajita ($6.60) was third.
Zoes Sassy Miracle was bred by her owners and is trained by Mark Barnes.
In the one contest for older Minnesota bred horses, the $40,000 Bob Morehouse Stakes, Dickey Bob ($12.00) out finished full brother and favorite PYC Jess Bite Mydust to win under Denny Velazquez. The Olmstead trainee covered the 350 yards in 17.87.
Rey D Arranque, who was correctly tabbed by track announcer Paul Allen to potentially run a big race after a slew of issues in his last, was second and paid a whopping $26.00 to place. PYC Bite Mydust who had trouble coming out of the gate closed quickly but had to settle for third ($2.20).
Dickey Bob was bred and is owned by Lunderborg LLC.
Disco Wagon, co-owned and trained by Stacy Charette-Hill, was the 9/2 winner of the $78,450 Canterbury Quarter Horse Derby. Bred by Charette-Hill’s husband and his longtime friend Victor Prior, Disco Wagon has been a labor of love from the beginning which became even more poignant with the passing of Prior and the estate giving the other half of the horse to the Hills.
“That means so much to us,” said Charette-Hill. “She is such a wonderful woman and Victor was such a good friend to my husband. Being able to win like this really means a lot.”
Disco Wagon covered the 400 yards in 19.91 and paid $11.60. DF Apollitical Sign ($27.80) was second and Eagle Deluxe ($6.20) was third.
