Firstmate figures if Minnesota Turf Distaff stays on grass

Atmospheric conditions will play a major role in handicapping a pair of $50,000 stakes races for Minnesota-breds on Wednesday night at Canterbury Park.

There was rain in the region Monday and more possible Monday night, Wednesday, and Wednesday night. Sunday was a sloppy, off-turf card at Canterbury, and if the grass course hasn’t much chance to dry, the Wednesday stakes, both carded at 7 1/2 furlongs on turf, could be moved to the main track.

First up is race 9 (post time 8:10 p.m. Central), the Minnesota Turf Distaff, which drew a competitive field of eight older fillies and mares, all of whom will be familiar to followers of the local product. It’s worth taking a long look at a horse relatively new to the division, Firstmate, a 4-year-old filly trained by Joe Sharp for Barry and Joni Butzow, who aced her grass debut in a no-conditions Minnesota-bred allowance race June 15. Firstmate at the quarter pole appeared to be spinning her wheels, but in midstretch she kicked into high gear and was up by a neck over five of the horses she faces again Wednesday, provided this race remains on turf.

If the race gets moved to dirt, Pinup Girl easily is the most likely winner, and in fact won the 2018 renewal of the Minnesota Turf Distaff, which was switched to the main track owing to a wet course. Pinup Girl has made three starts this year, but none came around two turns on dirt, the sort of race that has produced all the best races in her career.

Race 10, the Minnesota Turf, presents a similar scenario, with trainer Mac Robertson holding the best hand in the race. Among Robertson’s three entries is A P Is Loose, one of the better Minnesota-breds of recent seasons and a terror over the Canterbury grass course, where he has gone 10-4-5 from 21 starts. Eight-year-old A P Is Loose, bred and owned by Joel Zamzow, made his 2019 debut June 22 in the $100,000 Mystic Lake Mile, finishing eighth while shaking off rust from a winter break.

While A P Is Loose appears to hold a distinct edge on turf, the Robertson-trained Hotshot Kid has the edge on dirt. Hotshot Kid, a nine-time winner, all for owner-breeder Warren Bush, won 2018’s off-turf edition of this race by more than six lengths and drops back into statebred-restricted competition following a start in the $50,000 Dark Star Cup.