SHAKOPEE, MN – On a day when the purses for the premier three year old stakes for Minnesota breds, Minnesota Oaks and Derby, reached record highs of $100,000, Mr. Jagermeister nearly set a record himself. And he made it look easy.
Wide the entire way and galloping through the wire without a hint of fatigue, Mr. Jagermeister finished .17 of a second off the track record for a mile and 70, set by Come Summer in 1985.
“He responded to his training as well as I could have hoped,” said trainer and co-owner Valorie Lund. “He was very relaxed. He has a high cruising speed. I can’t train that, it’s his natural gift.”
Mr. Jagermeister ($3.20) broke alertly, was able to relax and sat in the five path through the first turn.
“The tactic was that if anyone was going to try and send early against him, we wanted to give them the rail,” said Lund. “We didn’t want him to be pressured from the outside.”
Under no real pressure throughout, jockey Leandro Goncalves shook him up entering the lane and he easily drew off to win by ten, stopping the clock at 1:40.37. Cinco Star ($4.00) was second and Twoko Bay ($2.40) was third.
“He’s really mentally matured quickly over the last 60-days,” said Lund. “I really didn’t expect to see that until he turned four. He’s much more focused in the mornings. I’ll stand by what I said before, he’s going to be much better at four and five than he is at three. He can be as good as any horse in the country – as long as his trainer doesn’t screw it up.”
Next stop for Mr. Jagermeister will be Minnesota Festival of Champions Day on September 2 though Lund is undecided if he will go in the Sprint or the Classic.
What appeared to be a more wide-open appear, the Minnesota Oaks became a match race about half way through with the speedy Rock That Jewel and favored Firstmate battling home.
Rock That Jewel under Dean Butler went to the early lead, but it was not an easy one, having to outduel Helen’sphotofinish through the first quarter before finally settling on top down the backstretch, though under constant pressure on the inside. All the time Firstmate settled nicely for Ry Eikleberry behind the dueling leaders before setting sail entering the far turn in the mile and 70 yard race.
By the time the fillies straightened out for home, Firstmate ($6.00) had put two lengths on Rock That Jewel and Eikleberry kept her to task to the wire, winning by 4 1/2 lengths over Rock That Jewel ($3.80) and Helen’sphotofinish was third ($6.60).
“It was a great move adding the blinkers,” said Eikleberry. “I figured when we cleared at the eighth pole we were okay, but you never know so I I just kept riding her.”
Co-owner (with wife Joni) Barry Butzow was quick to give credit to the team behind his filly.
“Ry was picture perfect on her,” Butzow said, a picture of fashion on “Dress to the Nines” day, “and credit Cody Rosin [trainer Joe Sharp’s assistant at Canterbury] for having her ready. And congratulations to Rick Bremer and Cheryl Sprick, Firstmate’s breeders, on an outstanding filly.
Firstmate should be making her next appearance on Festival of Champions Day as well.
The five furlong, $50,000 Minnesota Thoroughbred Association Sales Graduate Futurity was the third race on the card and the short field looked on paper to shape up as a match race between Notte Oscura and Dame Plata and it didn’t take long for that to become obvious on the track as well.
By the time the top duo hit the 3/8 pole they were heads apart and had put 7 lengths on the rest of the field. At the top of the stretch Dame Plata, with Jareth Loveberry aboard,was able to put a head in front and steadily drew off from there, finishing ahead of Notte Oscura by 2 1/4 lengths in 58.34 and returning $2.40 as the odds on favorite. Notte Oscura ($2.10) was nearly 12 lengths clear of third place finisher On Second Thought ($2.10).
Dame Plata is owned by Ann Sachdev and Lori Bravo, trained by Francisco Bravo and was bred in Minnesota by Sugarland Thoroughbreds LLC.
Bravo thanked his barn staff for the “terrific” job they did getting the horse ready and indicated that Dame Plata will be back in the Northern Lights on Festival Day.
