Mr. Jagermeister looms large in 10,000 Lakes

The fastest Minnesota-bred in training should dominate the first Minnesota-bred stakes race of the Canterbury Park season on Saturday.

On the day of Triple Crown’s second leg, four horses are probably running for second in the $50,000 10,000 Lakes Stakes, where Mr. Jagermeister figures to pour on his speed and leave the competition stumbling.

Mr. Jagermeister came out of the blocks slowly this year after trainer and part-owner Valorie Lund gave him a good, long break during the fall and early winter. But after taking a pair of odds-on defeats at Turf Paradise, Mr. Jagermeister looked like his best self on April 25 at Oaklawn Park, where he comfortably won a second-level allowance race. That sharp score, which produced a 95 Beyer Speed Figure, came when Lund cut Mr. Jagermeister back to Saturday’s six-furlong distance from a mile, and while his trainer has harbored designs on making Mr. Jagermeister a miler, it’s possible the 4-year-old mainly wants to sprint.

At Canterbury, Mr. Jagermeister has won six times from seven starts and his lone defeat two summers ago was a second-place finish to the filly Amy’s Challenge, who has developed into a Grade 1-class sprinter in the filly and mare ranks. Mr. Jagermeister and jockey Leandro Goncalves are drawn on the outside, which should produce a favorable trip and another Canterbury win.

Things look a little less straightforward a race later in the $50,000 Lady Slipper, the female counterpart to the 10,000 Lakes. Honey’s Sox Appeal is the 8-5 morning-line favorite facing five foes, but is drawn on the rail and swings back into action just two weeks after a sharp score in her 2019 debut. She might not run quite as well this time, and the pick to win the Lady Slipper is Pinup Girl. Pinup Girl finished third behind Honey’s Sox Appeal on May 3, but that 5 1/2-furlong distance fell short of her best, and Pinup Girl one year ago swept to a two-length victory in the Lady Slipper.