Mr. Jagermeister gets green light for Mystic Lake Derby

Mr. Jagermeister is a go for the $200,000 Mystic Lake Derby on Saturday, the richest race of the Canterbury Park season. But so, too, are a slew of other 3-year-olds. Fourteen were entered Wednesday for the one-mile turf race.

Mr. Jagermeister is a Minnesota-bred of rare quality, but what that means for the Mystic Lake Derby is hard to say. The race will be his first on turf and his first around two turns, and he was only confirmed for it after working an easy half-mile on turf Sunday at Canterbury.

“We put a very easy half into him,” said Valorie Lund, Mr. Jagermeister’s trainer and co-owner. “He worked fast the week before. We just mostly wanted to get him around there to look at the track, see what his action looked like. He looked fine to me and felt good to the rider.”

Mr. Jagermeister faced excellent competition at Santa Anita and Oaklawn this year before crushing older Minnesota-breds in a six-furlong sprint stakes in his only local start this season. Mr. Jagermeister, who drew well in post 5, is by Atta Boy Roy, a sprinter whom Lund trained, and is out of a mare by Corinthian, who is a turf-route influence.

“The bigger question to me is the grass,” Lund said. “I’m not concerned about the distance.”

There are some talented horses among the bulky field in the Mystic Lake Derby. Captivating Moon (post 6) is the best of them, having finished second to Gidu, Maraud, and Analyze it – talented horses all – in his three most recent starts. Others of note are Curlin’s Honor, a Mark Casse-trained colt who drew post 1, and Reride, who is stuck out in post 13. Reride, trained by Steve Asmussen, hasn’t started since finishing a distant third in the $2 million United Arab Emirates Derby.

The Mystic Lake Derby (race 5, 8:18 p.m. Central) is one of five stakes Saturday at Canterbury (first post, 6:10). It’s preceded by the $100,000 Lady Canterbury and the $100,000 Mystic Lake Mile and is followed by the $50,000 Dark Star Cup and $50,000 Hoist Her Flag.