Mr. Jagermeister headed to Churchill for Ack Ack

Mr. Jagermeister is bound next week for Churchill Downs, where he’ll try to stretch his speed to a one-turn mile Sept. 28 in the Grade 3, $150,000 Ack Ack Stakes.

Canterbury Park-based trainer Valorie Lund said she’s shipping Mr. Jagermeister along with two other horses to Churchill. Also traveling is Satellite Storm, whom Lund claimed for $15,000 at Turf Paradise earlier this year and who has turned into a terror since being switched to turf. Satellite Storm won three straight Canterbury turf sprints by 10 lengths combined, including a blowout last-start victory in the $50,000 Mystic Lake Turf Sprint.

Lund is targeting a Sept. 15 grass-sprint allowance race with Satellite Storm, but it’s Mr. Jagermeister who remains the stable star. One of, if not the best, Minnesota-bred to race, Mr. Jagermeister ran his career record to 17-10-3-2 with a 5 ¼-length win in the $100,000 Minnesota Sprint Championship on Sept. 1. Mr. Jagermeister has dominated statebred-restricted competition throughout his career and won easily in this most recent start despite an early and middle pace duel while running back two weeks after a long ship to Colonial Downs, where he’d captured a $100,000 stakes race. The Colonial start was his first race in nearly four months after a couple relatively minor issues derailed Mr. Jagermeister’s summer.

“If I hadn’t known the competition, I wouldn’t have run him back that soon after the effort in Virginia, after coming back from his layoff and after 52 hours shipping,” Lund said. “Despite the performance, [jockey Leandro Goncalves] said he was a little flat the other day. Be prepared to see him take a step forward when he comes back after a month off. I’m excited to run in the Ack Ack. A one-turn mile I think it’s going to be awesome for him.”

In the Ack Ack, Mr. Jagermeister could face 3-year-old star Omaha Beach, who recently missed a comeback start in the Shared Belief at Del Mar.