Bravo seeks to sweep two juvenile stakes for Minnesota-breds
SHAKOPEE, Minn. – Canterbury Park stages the Minnesota Festival of Champions, the richest day of its 69-day meet, on Sunday. With six stakes races for Minnesota-bred Thoroughbreds worth a combined $400,000, the Festival is the season-ending target for many local connections.
The card is headlined by the $80,000 Northern Lights Futurity and the $80,000 Northern Lights Debutante, and trainer Francisco Bravo aims to cap his phenomenal season with wins by the 2-year-old gelding Pensador and the 2-year-old filly Stella’s Princess. Both juvenile stakes are contested at six furlongs on the main track.
Pensador, who was defeated by his stablemate Smooth Chiraz in his July 19 debut, dominated 10 rivals by nine lengths when posting a Beyer Speed Figure of 75 on Aug. 2. Bravo, who has enjoyed a 27-for-107 meet to rank second in the trainer standings, also sends over top contenders Cupid’s Delight, a 6 1/2-length winner of his Aug. 16 debut, and Smooth Chiraz, who worked a sharp four furlongs in 47 seconds flat Aug. 29.
In the Futurity’s field of nine geldings, the Sandra Sweere-trained King George, an impressive 2 1/2-length maiden winner Aug. 2, will try to upset the Bravo-trained trio.
In the Debutante, which drew 10 fillies, Stella’s Princess will vie for favoritism with the two-time Assiniboia Downs stakes winner Pecos.
Stella’s Princess, untested when crushing maidens by 7 1/2 lengths in her Aug. 1 debut, has trained forwardly since then and breezed a half-mile in 48.20 seconds Aug. 29. Jockey Geovanni Franco, third in the local standings, with his mounts earning $900,023, stays aboard.
Pecos, a Charles Smith-trained filly, made a pair of successful treks into Manitoba when winning the $25,000 Debutante and defeating males in the $25,000 Graduation. Both of those Assiniboia wins came at five furlongs, and Pecos will try to carry her speed an extra furlong to remain undefeated.
◗ Defending champ Talkin Bout takes on five fillies and mares in the $60,000 Glitter Star Minnesota Distaff Classic Championship at 1 1/16 miles.
Winless in three turf tries here this season, the late-rallying Talkin Bout will face a stern challenge from familiar foes Blues Edge and Dear Fay. The 3-year-old Sioux Appeal, the winner of the 2014 Northern Lights Debutante, improved when trying a two-turn route for the first time Aug. 8 and will again be partnered by Leandro Goncalves, the meet’s leading rider with 73 wins.
◗ Polar Plunge, who just missed against open company Aug. 9 in the Hoist Her Flag here, is the mare to beat in the $60,000 Bella Notte Minnesota Distaff Sprint Championship. Trained by Gary Scherer, the 7-year-old Polar Plunge must catch last year’s Distaff Sprint winner, Sky and Sea, the Bernell Rhone trainee who has endured a frustrating 0 for 5 season.
The Mac Robertson-trained pair of Somerset Swinger, the race’s 2013 winner, and the quick veteran Gypsy Melody also look formidable.
◗ Bourbon County, who represents the same connections as Sky and Sea, will be heavily favored to score a second consecutive win in the $60,000 Crocrock Minnesota Sprint Championship. Dean Butler, whose mounts have earned a leading $1,498,057 during this meet, retains the mount on Bourbon County for breeder and owner Scott Rake’s Rake Farms LLC.
The capable closers Evert and Let Da Cowboy Rock head Bourbon County’s opposition in the six-furlong sprint.
◗ The $60,000 Wally’s Choice Minnesota Classic Championship, a 1 1/16-mile race with eight geldings entered, has a wide-open look.
Hold for More, who has dominated his fellow 3-year-olds in three recent romps here, should be tested by older rivals like 2014 Minnesota Derby winner Speed Is Life, the speedy turf specialist A P Is Loose, and Affirmed Cure, the Virginia Peters trainee who missed by a head in last year’s Classic Championship.
The Minnesota Festival of Champions, which also includes a pair of $40,000 stakes for Minnesota-bred Quarter Horses, is part of an 11-race card that starts at 12:45 p.m. Central.