SHAKOPEE, MN – Entries for the Mystic Lake North Stars Turf Festival were taken today at Canterbury Park and in addition to the stellar locals (Robertson, Diodoro, Berndt, Lund, etc.) a lineup of heavy hitting shippers will be making their way to Shakopee to try and get a piece of the $610,000 in stakes purses up for grabs on Tuesday, June 23.
Over the past five years, the more prominent ship-ins have a small but significant Canterbury form factor: what they bring is live.
Belmont Stakes winning trainer Brad Cox will be coming back to Canterbury after finishing third in the Brooks Fields Stakes last month with Hieronynous (a starter in the Mystic Lake Mile). While Cox is 0-4 at Canterbury, his charges have hit the board each time. Cox missed by a neck with his first Shakopee shipper, Starr Bear, in the 2017 Northbound Pride Oaks (now the Curtis Sampson).
Ian Wilkes took the 2017 edition of the Mystic Lake Derby with Giant Payday for local owner, Bob Lothenbach. His entry this year is also owned by Lothenbach Stables, Modern Science. Wilkes has run seven times in Shakopee over the past five years, winning twice (the other was also in 2017 with Sweet Tapper in the Lady Canterbury) and in the money thrice. Giant Payday, still in training but with last year’s leading local trainer Joel Berndt, will be back in action on Festival night in the Mystic Lake Mile.
Michael Maker has had 17 Canterbury starters since 2016. All his entrants have been over the turf and he’s come away with five wins and ten in the money finishes. Maker has taken several Festival Day races including the 2018 and 2019 Mystic Lake Derbies (Sniper Kitten and Faraway Kitten), the 2018 Lady Canterbury with I’m Betty G and last year’s Northbound Pride Oaks with Ask Bailey.
Chicago legend, Larry Rivelli, always comes to Canterbury with a purpose. Of his eleven starters, all but two have hit the board and has three wins including this year’s Dark Star Turf Sprint contender, Wellabled, who set the five furlong turf course record in winning the 2020 Honor the Hero Stakes.
While Michael Stidham hasn’t been as successful over the past five years, he did kick off the Mystic Lake Derby with a bang, combining with owner Terry Hamilton and rider Lori Keith to win the first two runnings of the Derby with Hammers Terror and Dorsett, respectively, in 2012 and 2013. He brings in Lady Lawyer, a contender in this year’s Lady Canterbury.
Michelle Boyce, trainer of last year’s Mystic Lake Derby winner Summer Assault, brings him back to Shakopee in the Mystic Lake Mile. She’s had 10 starts with four winners and six in the board finishers over the past five years shipping into Canterbury.
While the imported talent is tough, you can never underestimate the locals, however. Mac Robertson and Robertino Diodoro have spent a lot of years making a practice of sending home shippers with a only a minor share of the accolades.
Diodoro, three times the leading trainer at Canterbury and currently fifth in the nation in total wins with 116, has entries in the Mile and the Sprint. Diodoro is leading the current Canterbury meet with a record of 14 wins from 40 starts.
Robertson, 13-time training champion at Canterbury and leader in all-time purse earnings and wins, has entries in the Lady Canterbury, the Sprint and the Oaks.
This is some food for thought as you start to hunker down with your DRF or Brisnet PPs. Look for our full analysis of the Northern Stars Turf Festival stakes next week.
