SHAKOPEE, MN – In winning the Blair’s Cove on July 3, A P is Loose not only won the race for the third consecutive year but he also became the top money earning horse to run at Canterbury Park.  The victory gave the Monarchos gelding, out of the Stalwart mare Masquerade Star, $405,188 in career earnings at Canterbury, surpassing the also still active Hold for More.

The win was hardly expected.

“I didn’t think that A P would win,” said owner/breeder Joel Zamzow.  “I thought that he may have lost a bit at age six and for him to come back and win at seven.  It’s amazing.”

Zamzow has been a student of pedigree for a while, voraciously consuming anything he could find on the subject to read in his spare time.  Whatever spare time he had as a Duluth area orthopedic surgeon could have.

“I would read all the time,” said Zamzow.  “It got to the point that my wife and kids would say ‘put the book down…it’s family time!”

All the study paid off, however, when brother Mark, a close partner with Joel in the horse business, was sent off to Kentucky to pick up a mare from the 2000 Keeneland Mixed Sale.

“We had our eye on several mares and Mark and I talked about how far we were willing to go to get them.

“The first several went for much more money than we had budgeted.  The Mark called and said that we got Masquerade Star for $5,000.  We were happy we got her but then we wondered, ‘why did we get her so cheaply?'” laughed Zamzow.

“But we got her home, started to breed her and she threw winner after winner for us,” he said smiling.  “She became the foundation of our whole program.  A P was her last foal but her daughters have started producing as well.”

The name A P is Loose stemmed from the famous roar of Vikings radio announcer (and Canterbury race caller) Paul Allen of “And A P is looooooose” when Vikes running back Adrian Peterson would burst through the line and into the open field.

Zamzow became more wistful when discussing how much the win and money title meant to him.

“My brother Mark passed away last spring,” Zamzow said with tears welling in his eyes.  “We spread his ashes on the finish line earlier this year and this is a very emotional time for us.”

Mark Zamzow was not only a breeder and owner in his own right, he worked closely with Joel for years and the two spent many afternoons and evenings at Canterbury sharing a love for horses, racing, breeding and each other.  It made the moment especially poignant

As for the future:

“A P has been so good for Canterbury and for us,” said Zamzow.  “I’d like to see him finish up this year and maybe next if he wants to.”