Stoupinator faces classy foes in Lady Canterbury Stakes

SHAKOPEE, Minn. – The local starlet Stoupinator gets her stiffest test to date when she faces eight rivals in Saturday’s $100,000 Lady Canterbury Stakes, a turf race for fillies and mares at about a mile.

Stoupinator, 3 for 3 over this course, closed strongly for a three-quarter-length win over returning foe Notte d’Oro in the June 6 Minnesota HBPA Distaff, the Lady Canterbury’s prep race at the same distance. Trained by Mac Robertson, Stoupinator has improved as a 5-year-old and looks ready to take on graded stakes performers like Kitty Wine and Parc Monceau.

Kitty Wine, trained at Keeneland by Eddie Kenneally, invades Canterbury for the first time following a solid effort when fourth, beaten just 1 3/4 lengths by Kiss Moon, in Churchill Downs’s Grade 3 Mint Julep Handicap on June 6.

Parc Monceau was last seen April 18, running fourth in Hawthorne’s Grade 3 Sixty Sails Handicap on dirt. The well-traveled 5-year-old, now trained by Bill Mott, will try to carry her speed under new rider Jorge Carreno.

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KEY CONTENDERS

Kitty Wine (Last 3 Beyers: 89-81-92)

◗ Jockey Corey Lanerie, who has been winning at a 17 percent clip for Kenneally in 2014-15, makes the trek to partner with this 6-year-old Lemon Drop Kid mare for the first time since June 2012.

Parc Monceau (Last 3 Beyers: 83-86-90)

◗ She has been freshened by Mott, and her last appearance on grass yielded an Indiana Grand optional-claiming win by a nose last September.

Stoupinator (Last 3 Beyers: 91-89-81)

◗ Dean Butler, who is 15 for 40 when riding for Robertson here in 2014-15, is 2 for 2 on this Stormy Atlantic mare.

◗ She posted a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure in her 23rd lifetime start June 6 and breezed five furlongs in 1:00.60 on July 2 over Arlington’s Polytrack.

Notte d’Oro (Last 3 Beyers: 89-82-59)

◗ This stakes-winning filly at Fair Grounds last January should be flying late for trainer Michael Stidham and jockey Denny Velazquez. That tandem clicked in its lone attempt last Friday, when Zubi Zubi Zu won a turf optional claimer by a nose.

In My Time (Last 3 Beyers: 82-73-86)

◗ This 4-year-old Scat Daddy filly makes her stakes debut for trainer Tom Amoss, who is enjoying a 9-for-39 meet here.

◗ She has tactical speed and has never been worse than second in six lifetime grass starts.