Shakopee Juvenile, Metzen Sprint close out meet

Two Phil’s will attempt to back up an impressive maiden special weight win with a stakes victory Saturday night in the $50,000 Shakopee Juvenile at Canterbury Park.

The six-furlong race for 2-year-olds is one of two stakes on the 13-race closing night card. The $50,000 Tom Metzen HBPA Sprint is for 3-year-olds and up at the same distance Saturday.

Two Phil’s will go favored in a field of nine in the Shakopee. The group includes Runtoday, who was second to the undefeated Tyler’s Tribe last out in the Freshman at Prairie Meadows, and Blackteca, who was fifth to Tyler’s Tribe in the same track’s Iowa Stallion Futurity.

Two Phil’s enters off a 2 1/2-length maiden-special win July 18 at Colonial. He ran six furlongs in a sharp 1:09.79 and the Beyer of 70 he earned is the best career-number in the Shakopee Juvenile.

“We’ve always thought he was a real nice colt,” said trainer Larry Rivelli. “The first time I ran him, at Churchill Downs, he didn’t break good, got shut off, had a real bad trip. We were pretty confident going into the race at Colonial – barring anything similar to what happened at Churchill – that we were going to be okay and we were. He ran a good race and ever since then, he’s been moving forward.”

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Two Phil’s broke on top at Colonial, contested a quick pace and went on against a field that included Free Soul. The latter won a maiden special weight in his next start, and has since finished third in a Colonial stakes.

“There were a couple of good ones in there,” Rivelli said. “A couple of big-name trainers had horses in there, horses I think were well meant.”

Two Phil’s, whom breeder and co-owner Phillip Sagan named for him and his son, also races for Patricias Hope. The horse is by Hard Spun and out of Mia Torri, a multiple stakes winner of more than $300,000.

“He’s put together really well,” Rivelli said. “And he trains great. Every breeze and every race, he just gets better. He’s always been smart, a real cool horse. He never sweats the small stuff, doesn’t mind shipping. For a 2-year-old, mentally, he’s probably above the class.”

Jareth Loveberry has the mount from post 8.

“That’s a perfect spot,” Rivelli said. “We are fast enough maybe to get to the front, but we don’t have to. If somebody goes crazy inside of us, we can just sit right off of them. He’ll run either way.”

Runtoday will break from the rail. He was a debut winner in July at Canterbury. So was Magic Glass, a son of Good Magic and the mare Majestic Heat, a Grade 2 winner of more than $500,000.

◗ Tony’s Tapit established himself as the one to beat in the Metzen HBPA Sprint when he won a local allowance by more than seven lengths Aug. 27. Tony’s Tapit covered 6 1/2 furlongs in a sharp 1:15.69 and the 91 Beyer he earned is the best last-race number in the nine-horse field.