Mr. Jagermeister short price to extend dominance over Minnesota-breds in 10,000 Lakes Stakes

Mr. Jagermeister is back for another round at Canterbury Park, where Minnesota-breds have found his brand of drink far too strong.

Seven times Mr. Jagermeister has raced against statebred competition, and seven times he has won – and “competition” is somewhat misleading. The seven victories have come by about 62 combined lengths, and Mr. Jagermeister will be heavily, heavily favored to win the $50,000 10,000 Lakes Stakes on Wednesday evening at Canterbury.

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The 10,000 Lakes, in which Mr. Jagermeister romped two seasons ago, shares top billing on Wednesday’s 11-race card with its sister race, the $50,000 Lady Slipper for Minnesota-bred female sprinters. First post for the program is 4:30 p.m. Central, and Canterbury’s 10 percent takeout pick five wager, a hit during opening week of the meet, spans races 4 through 8.

The Lady Slipper is carded as race 6, and the sequence ends with a very tough dirt-route allowance race. Some sort of case could be made for eight of the nine entrants in race 8, with Dame Plata getting a tepid nod at a square price. Race 7, a turf-route allowance for fillies and mares, figures to have Appealing Audrey as a defined favorite, but she’s tough to trust at a short price and Viva Forever has a chance to make the lead and get brave at much longer odds than the favorite.

Race 6, the Lady Slipper, looks far more competitive than the 10,000 Lakes, with Ari Gia, winner of the 2019 renewal, likely to vie with Ready to Runaway for favoritism. Owner John Mentz and trainer Mac Robertson unearthed a gem when they claimed Ready to Runaway for $25,000 about a year ago at Canterbury. The filly proceeded to win three Minnesota-bred stakes, two with $100,000 purses, and held her own in three Oaklawn starts this year against open company. Robertson also entered Honey’s Sox Appeal, a stalwart of the Minnesota-bred stakes ranks for years, and Clickbait, who is likely to be scratched in favor of a Thursday allowance race at Canterbury.

As for Mr. Jagermeister, he figures to go straight to the lead from post 1 under Leandro Goncalves and will have, at most, four foes in the 10,000 Lakes. Hot Shot Kid has a fine Minnesota-bred record in his own right, but can’t keep up with an in-form Mr. Jagermeister and stands little chance of running him down. Mr. Jagermeister didn’t show his best in the Count Fleet Stakes last out, but two starts ago turned in a strong performance finishing second to Whitmore in the Hot Springs Stakes.

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Indiana Grand

A pair of $75,000 stakes restricted to horses by Indiana sires, the Sagamore Sired Stakes and the Swifty Sired Stakes, highlight the Wednesday program at Indiana Grand. The Sagamore is for 3-year-olds and the Swifty for 3-year-old fillies, with both at six furlongs.

Nutty Train could hold the key to the Sagamore Sired Stakes.

Nutty Train is by Unbridled Express and out of Damie’s Peanut, who already has produced two stakes winners, Son of a Nut and In a Jif, for Jeff and Sherri Greenwell, the owner-breeders of Nutty Train. Nutty Train, trained by Jeff Greenwell, lost both his starts at age 2 but ran encouragingly each time and might be set for a breakthrough performance in his first start at age 3.

Nutty Train, listed at 12-1 on the morning line, is one of 10 entrants in the six-furlong Sagamore Sired, which is carded as race 8. None of these horses has started yet in 2020, and the contending 2-year-old form of horses like Cash Logistics and Maters and Taters might not be especially relevant to Wednesday’s contest.

The Swifty Sired is carded as race 6 and drew eight entrants, with Super Jen listed as the 3-5 morning-line favorite.