Lothenbach has stars aligned on Minnesota Festival of Champions card

Midnight Current has become a rising star among Minnesota-breds over the course of the Canterbury Park meet and on Saturday night she will attempt to win her sixth straight race in the Princess Elaine Distaff.

The 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares is one of six $100,000 stakes on the Minnesota Festival of Champions card. There are also two $70,000 stakes for Quarter Horses, with all of the races restricted to horses bred in Minnesota.

There are new, familiar, and favorite names across the entries on a card meant to celebrate such horses – as well as their breeders and owners. Bob Lothenbach, the leading owner at Canterbury, has nine top runners on the card, including his homebred Midnight Current.

“Mr. Lothenbach puts so much into the program,” said trainer Joel Berndt. “I think he has 50-plus Minnesota-breds between weanlings, yearlings, 2-year-olds, and older horses. He’s well vested in racing here.”

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Midnight Current has not made a wrong move since last fall, when she won a conditioned allowance for Minnesota-breds in September at Canterbury. She then returned to action this past June, and has won all four of her starts at the current meet. Midnight Current’s biggest win came July 16 in the $50,000 Minnesota Turf Distaff. She’s made one start since, winning a second-level allowance over open company July 30.

“She’s doing super,” Berndt said. “I ran her back after the stakes in two weeks knowing I could give her a month between that race and this one. When you have a Minnesota-bred the time is short and sometimes you rain off the turf. I thought I’ll just take a shot and run her back in two weeks and she won even easier. It was like, ‘Wow!’ ”

Berndt likes how she has fared in the time leading up to the Princess Elaine.

“You don’t see any works; we two-minute lick her,” he said. “She kind of takes care of herself.”

The win streak, which has been built on turf, has come during a meet in which the races and weather have fallen right for Midnight Current.

“The frequency of turf racing, the way they went this summer – she just got into a groove,” Berndt said. “She broke her maiden on the dirt, but the pedigree always said turf. She never got to get going on the turf until late last year and then we saw a better filly on the turf than we did on the dirt. So, this year we said we’re not even going to mess with the dirt and just start on the turf and go from there.”

Harry Hernandez has the mount from post 3.

“She’s very versatile,” said Berndt.

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Let’s Skedaddle and Scent of Success, who finished second and third in the Minnesota Turf Distaff, also return in the Princess Elaine.

Another homebred on a win streak for Lothenbach is That’s Not Funny, who will be chasing after his fourth straight victory when he starts in the Blair’s Cove.

The 1 1/16-mile turf race is for 3-year-olds and up. The field of 12 includes the beloved Hot Shot Kid, who is looking for career win No. 17.

That’s Not Funny has registered his last three wins on turf, and is making his stakes debut. Lothenbach has another homebred in the field, Cousvinnysacanuck, who was second by a head last out in the $100,000 Minnesota Derby. He is making his turf debut.

“It was a last minute decision to run,” Berndt said. “I did a little pedigree research and he has a half-brother that has run well on the turf. I also had the luxury of breezing him on the turf here and that made my decision. He breezed really well. Not according to time – according to his stride. His ears were up and he was happy.”

Lothenbach has a notable homebred in the Northern Lights Futurity in It’s Bobs Business. The horse enters the six-furlong race off a maiden special weight win in June at Canterbury. He rolled by 11 3/4 lengths as a popular winner for the young stallion Bolt d’Oro.

“You never know what they’re going to do these 2-year-olds, but he worked really good,” Berndt said. “It’s been a long time from when he broke his maiden to now. We put him on a two-week work schedule, worked in company, from behind horses, from the gate. He’s just doing awesome.”

It’s Bobs Business breaks from the rail Saturday.

“I really don’t care for the one hole,” Berndt said. “And to make myself feel better, I say, ‘Well, nobody can bump him from the inside.’ I just hope he breaks good.”

Lothenbach-owned Love the Nest goes in the Minnesota Sprint. It comes one start after he won his two-turn debut in the Minnesota Derby, equaling his career-best Beyer Figure of 83.

“He did real well in that race,” Berndt said. “I don’t know if he’s a sprinter or a route horse because I haven’t had enough races to really find out. And now he’s facing older horses, which is always difficult, although it is September. He’s a very mature 3-year-old. He looks like he’s 5. He’s a big, strapping, strong 3-year-old, but he’s lightly raced.”

In the Distaff Sprint, the popular Ready to Runaway is going for career win No. 15. She is trained by Mac Robertson, who has won 39 Minnesota Festival of Champions races.