SHAKOPEE, MN – The Bank of America Quarter Horse Challenge is back at Canterbury on the Fourth of July. The last two local Challenge winners, The Fiscal Cliff and AJs High, went on to win the Challenge finals each of the last two years so the local affair has proven to be a bellweather race on the Challenge tour.
The 2016 Challenge Champion, AJs High, is back this year for the 400 yard Challenge and has been installed as the 7/5 morning line favorite. The multiple graded stakes winner hasn’t won in three starts this season but has a second and a third in Remington Park stakes. Regular rider Stormy Smith made the trip to ride.
The 440 yard Canterbury Park Distaff Challenge looks more wide open with 2017 Cash Caravan winner Blacks Cartel in the center of the 10 horse field. Blacks Cartel has had a rough 2018 thus far and will look to get untracked in the Challenge.
Trainer Bob Johnson has three horses in the field with the most accomplished of these looking like Gold Diggin Queen. She has been plying her trade on the west coast and joined the Johnson barn this summer. In her one Canterbury start she beat a filed of $16,000 optional claimers and earned herself a speed index of 88 – the best last race index in the field.
The Distaff will be the first race of ten on the holiday card.
The two thoroughbred stakes on the card are the prep races for the Minnesota Oaks and Derby, the Frances Genter and the Vic Myers. Both are run at six furlongs over the main track for a purse of $50,000 for state bred 3-year olds.
It was initially surmised that when the connections of Mr. Jagermeister chose to run in the Mystic Lake Derby that the Myers would be a wide open affair but Mr. J is back in the Myers and rounding up challengers proved to be, well, challenging, leaving the Myers as a five horse race field. Mr. Jagermeister has been installed as the 1-9 favorite and you can expect a negative show pool this afternoon. The only question is how high will the pool get.
While it’s a horse race and anything can happen when the gates pop, it is difficult to imagine Mr. Jagermeister not romping over his field.
In the Genter, Barry and Joni Butzow’s Firstmate is the 3-2 morning line favorite but there are more questions here than there is in the Myers.
Vidira has won two of three this season but faltered in her only stakes attempt in the Lady Slipper. She bounced back strongly and notched the best last race Beyer Speed Figure (60) of the field in an open $10,000 claiming race.
Devil Lady is another who woke up last start, breaking her maiden by 11 1/2 lengths under Quincy Hamilton. Hamilton stays with Helen’sphotoflash who was third last out in a state bred allowance sprint.
There is definitely some speed in the race and it should be very entertaining to see if Vidira or Firstmate will be the one running late.
Post time for the Independence Day card is 12:45 PM.
