SHAKOPEE, MN – Never before had the same owner, breeder, trainer and jockey won both the Minnesota Derby and Minnesota Oaks in the same year.

Until last night.

Owner/trainer Pete Mattson, trainer Tim Padilla and jockey Alsonso Quinonez combined to make history last night at Canterbury Park winning both of the $100,000 races.

In the mile and 70-yard Minnesota Derby, Quinonez took heavily favored Thealligatorhunter right to the lead and never looked back.  That said, he certainly made it eventful for everybody in the stretch.  In a near replay of his last race, the three-year-old spooked drifted about ten paths out in the stretch before correcting hard and angling in on Bayou Benny in deep stretch triggering a lengthy inquiry.

Trainer Padilla immediately thought he was coming down.

“They see the name ‘Padilla’ and down I go,” he laughed.

However, unlike the last race, the stewards ruled that Thealligatorhunter was clear when he ducked in across Bayou Benny. The horses eventually clipped heels, but that was after the wire and the race already decided.

“I wanted to try and get a good break, move out and not bother anyone,” said Quinonez.  “In the stretch he started zig-zagging.  He was getting out and I tried to keep him busy with my right hand and then he took off again.”

“Everything was good,” said owner Mattson.  “Until that inquiry sign came up.  That was a little hairy.  We really think that this horse can do even more.”

The Alligatorhunter paid $2.80 to win in the one length victory over Bayou Benny ($3.00) and Kid’s Inheritance ($2.10) and covered the mile and seventy in 1:42.29.

While the trio had the overwhelming favorite in the Derby, the Oaks was a different story. Molly’s Angel was 9-1 and still eligible for a non-winner of two allowance when she broke from the gate and settled off the pace set by odds-on, multiple stakes winner Star of the North who appeared like she being held together well.

Straightened out for home, Quinonez swung Molly’s Angel off the rail and attacked Star of the North, going right by her and drawing off to win by five and a half lengths.

“That was great,” said Padilla immediately after the horses crossed the line. “Just a great effort and she closed perfectly.”

As the winner came into the winners’ circle, a beaming Mattson joked, “Hey, he rode her straight!”

“This year has been a miracle,” said Mattson, in a year which has seen him rise to the top echelons of the owners’ standings with mostly homebreds, watching his years of investment in the game paying off.

Molly’s Angel paid $20.60 for the win over Star of the North ($2.10) and Maiden Rock ($9.20).

The older horses took the track next in the mile and a sixteenth, $50,000 Wally’s Choice stakes and an anticipated battle between Cinco Star and Drop of Golden Sun. The two did not disappoint, though neither would cross the finish line first.

Both horses broke sharply and went at it through fractions of 23.23, 46.80 and 1:10.73 never more than a half length apart.  As the two battled on the front end, Rueben Fuentes stalked the leaders saving ground and biding his time aboard Zoe’s Delight.

“I thought that was perfect,” said Fuentes.  “I let them do their thing until they came back to me.  I felt really confident, my horse was going really well.”

While Zoe’s Delight took command and Drop of Golden Sun folded, Cinco Star did not give up without a fight.  Zoe’s Delight ($20.20) won the war, crossing the finish line in 1:43.17, only ¾ of a length ahead of the very game Cinco Star ($2.80) and Dame Plata ($3.80) third.

Lori Michaels, principal of Winchester Place Thoroughbreds, owner and breeder of Zoe’s Delight (and breeder of runner up Cinco Star) was reflective on the night’s events.  Between the inquiry two races before, Michaels is the owner and breeder of Bayou Benny, and the Wally’s Choice, she had run a gamut of emotions.

“Well, it’s been an exciting night,” she said  “Rueben gave him a great ride and he’s such a good horse. Tony had the horse ready to go and has done a marvelous job with all our horses.”

Michaels also bred the fourth-place finisher Twoko Bay.

Despite the drama and upsets of the first three stakes, Ready to Runaway remained cool and professional, taking command of the $50,000 Glitter Star Stakes early and simply romping home in 1:43.18 for the mile and a sixteenth.  She drew off and won by 6 ¼ under Roimes Chirinos for trainer Mac Robertson.

Owner John Mentz, who claimed the mare for $25,000 in 2019, won this race with Ready to Runaway for the third consecutive year called her “the most miraculous investment I have ever made.”