Rhone has contenders in both Stallion Auction Stakes

Bernell Rhone is in good position to capture a pair of sales stakes at Canterbury Park on Sunday. The two $25,000 stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs are restricted to 3-year-olds who are progeny of stallions whose service was sold at the 2006 Minnesota Thoroughbred Association’s stallion service auction.

Rhone starts Rustic Road in the Laddie division, for either sex, and She’s Better Loud in the Lassie division, for fillies.

Rhone has been rehabilitating Rustic Road, who will be making his first start in four months in the Laddie division.

“He was a really good horse at Tampa,” said Rhone. “He injured his tendon sheath. We did PRP on him, and he’s training real good.”

PRP is plasma therapy where blood is drawn from the horse and spun to separate the platelets. The platelets are then injected into the injury site and aid in tissue repair.

“It is supposed to help injuries heal faster by 60 percent,” said Rhone. “After we did the PRP I swam him for about a month after his injury, then we alternated between galloping and swimming. I haven’t been pushing him real hard. The last work I made him settle down and work so he would get something out of it for the race. I just hope he’s sharp.”

Rustic Road will take on five others and will need to be sharp to defeat a pair of geldings showing good form. Our Family Affair is coming off a third-place finish in the Minnesota Derby on July 31. Gold Country Cat won two of his previous three starts before finishing fifth in the same race.
With three wins and nearly $100,000 in earnings, She’s Better Loud is the most accomplished of the five entrants in the Lassie. She ships in from Prairie Meadows off a third-place effort in the Iowa Breeders’ Oaks.

Rhone said he asked owner Sandra Rasmussen to send her to him for the Lassie.

“I’ve had her a little over a week,” he said. “She came out of a tough race in Iowa. This race is a softer spot.”