Hot Shot Kid looks the part ahead of Minnesota Derby

The connections of horses racing against him as well as handicappers thinking about playing against him in Saturday’s $85,000 Minnesota Derby might look at eight of the starts that Hot Shot Kid has made and glean at least a speck of hope.

All of those races came at sprint distances, and while Hot Shot Kid has dominated Minnesota-bred rivals at the ongoing Canterbury meet, he has done so in one-turn tries.

But then there is race No. 9 on Hot Shot Kid’s résumé, a 1 1/16-mile maiden race against open competition four starts ago at the tough Oaklawn Park meet, and in that race, Hot Shot Kid disputed a strong pace and stayed on gamely to win. The performance makes Hot Shot Kid look adequately suited to the Minnesota Derby’s distance of one mile and 70 yards – and a difficult odds-on favorite to oppose.

“He does it all so easily – a real pro,” said jockey Alex Canchari, who has piloted Hot Shot Kid to three straight Canterbury wins for trainer Mac Robertson and owner and breeder Warren Bush.

Hot Shot Kid is one of seven entrants in the Minnesota Derby, the last of three Minnesota-bred stakes races on a Saturday card that starts at 12:45 p.m. Central. The Derby goes as race 8 at 4:38 and is immediately preceded by the $85,000 Minnesota Oaks and the $40,000 MTA Sales Futurity.

Hot Shot Kid, a Majestic Warrior gelding, lacked precocity last year but has come steadily forward during 2017 under Robertson’s tutelage. He has plenty of speed to get good early position but also has demonstrated a willingness to rate behind horses. Hot Shot Kid comes off the two fastest races of his career, but even with minor regression, he still can win.

Fireman Oscar is the 4-1 second choice on the morning line, but his win last out in a short Minnesota-bred turf-route allowance was his first since capturing the rich Northern Lights Futurity while sprinting on dirt last summer at Canterbury. While it was good to see Fireman Oscar handle two turns last out, he got a great setup, rallying into a blazing early and middle pace, and perhaps it’s Grand Marais who will prove the strongest threat to Hot Shot Kid.

Grand Marais also exits a two-turn turf race, but his was the Grade 3 American Derby at Arlington, and while Grand Marais no-showed in that much tougher spot, it might be seen as a bridge to the Minnesota Derby. Grand Marais lost his best chance with a poor break two races ago and in his prior start was an easy winner of a two-turn Minnesota-bred dirt maiden race.

Double Bee Sting in Oaks

If the progressive filly Double Bee Sting runs to her pedigree and most recent start, she should win the Minnesota Oaks.

Double Bee Sting showed modest form last year at age 2, but after tiring in her first start this season, she was a game winner of a Minnesota-bred first-level allowance and the clear runner-up – more than six lengths clear of third – on July 4 in the $50,000 Frances Genter Stakes.

Trained by Tony Rengstorf for owner and breeder Curtis Sampson, Double Bee Sting is by Stay Thirsty and out of an Arch mare, a pedigree that strongly suggests that she should enjoy her first race around two turns.

Her primary rival appears to be Pinup Girl, who was a distant third in the Frances Genter but previously won a two-turn Canterbury dirt allowance race.

◗ Nine 2-year-olds who passed through a Minnesota yearling auction last year are entered in the MTA Sales Futurity, a five-furlong dirt race. The maiden winners Magic Cowboy and Blackberri Brandi and the first-time starter Classy Shackles are the prime contenders.