ROCHESTER, MN – When Minnesota bred filly Hotasapistol bursts from the Remington Park starting gate this afternoon in the Grade 3 Remington Park Oaks, she’ll be taking her first strides in the next step toward owner/breeder Gary Bergrud’s dream of raising and racing top class Thoroughbred race horses.

“We started by claiming horses,” said Bergsrud as the Canterbury Park meet wound down, “But we wanted to have better stock and we felt the way to do that was to breed our own.”

As a 12-year old in North Dakota, Gary Bergrud rode races in the bull ring tracks around the state with pal Russ Rhone and future Canterbury star Dean Koontz. He galloped horses and rode for his dad for a few years until he outgrew race riding and joined the Army.  After the Army, Bergsrud went to school and became a CPA, but always kept his hand in horse racing.

“I got a horse from Dean’s grandfather named Dean’s Bow,” recalled Bergsrud. “We ran him up in Winnipeg and he won four races for us and finished second four times as well.”

Gary met wife Brenda at the racetrack and they continued down the path together, racing in Canada until Canterbury opened up and then started racing in Minnesota, while keeping their operation based in northern North Dakota.

“We tried to get better and better,” said Gary. “We had to move from running in Winnipeg because there was no money there and it was hard to build the quantity we wanted. Nothing we bought really panned out except for two broodmares.  Vicar’s Daughter was one.”

Vicar’s Daughter ended up being a stakes placed mare for the Bergsruds. They decided to keep and breed her, so they sent her to Kentucky for her matches.

“The stallions in Manitoba just weren’t able to get us to what we wanted to accomplish,” said son Tyler Bergsrud. “So, we sent her to Kentucky.”

In 2014 Vicar’s Daughter gave birth to what would be the Bergsrud’s breakthough horse, the Stephen Got Even filly, Pinup Girl.

Pinup Girl retired this season after an illustrious career.  She made 28 starts with 8 wins to her credit including the Minnesota Turf Distaff and the Lady Slipper Stakes and a pair of wins (2017 & 18) in the Glitter Star Minnesota Distaff.  In her career she’s earned more than $300,000 and marked Brenda and Gary among the top breeders in Minnesota.

Pinup Girl will head to Kentucky after the first of the year and most likely will be bred to Mastery, though the details have not been finalized.

With no desire to get into commercial breeding, the Bergsruds want to improve their own stock and go on to win with them on the race track.

“We breed to race,” said Gary, “And that’s important to us and I think it’s important to the stallion owners that we work with as well. They want them out so they can have them someplace else and not just Kentucky.”

“We have a yearling at home by Mohaymen,” said Tyler. “If she does well, perhaps other Minnesotans will breed to him? They want the progeny in other places, not just 100 foals all racing in Kentucky. This way they run in Minnesota, Oklahoma and other places as well.”

Hotasapistol (Flat Out-Alacazar-Dayjur) had a maiden breaking performance her 2-year old season and the finished 5^th in the Northern Lights Debutante after which she spent the winter on the farm and came back ready to run as a 3-year old.

She opened the season against older horses in an allowance, finishing sixth, before impressing in the Frances Genter against 3-year olds.  She battled on the lead with the quick Defend the Rose and refused to go away late.  She settled for third but showed guts and determination which would serve her well as the races got longer and more in her wheelhouse.

She served notice in a 6 ½ furlong allowance that she was rounding into form by thrashing a group of statebreds, including her elders and headed into the mile and 70 yards Minnesota Oaks where she was overlooked in the wagering but stormed down the line to grind out a ¾ length win.

Wrapping up the local season she finished 2^nd behind the older and heavily favored Clickbait in the $100,000 Princess Elaine Stakes.

This afternoon she’ll take on some of the best in the country in the Remington Park Oaks and look to usher the Bergsruds into the ranks of Graded Stakes winning owners and if the pipeline and plan is any indication, they’ll be a forced to be reckoned with for years to come.