Wynn Time could have easy going in Paul Bunyan Stakes

On the day, at least, Wynn Time was not quite good enough to win the $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap on April 14 at Oaklawn. On paper, at least, Wynn Time will find it difficult to lose the $50,000 Paul Bunyan Stakes on Saturday at Canterbury Park.

Wynn Time is one of six entered in the Paul Bunyan, and the Paul Bunyan is one of two $50,000 stakes, along with the six-furlong Etoile du Nord, carded for the second day of the Canterbury season. Mac Robertson, Wynn Time’s trainer, also holds a strong hand in the female-restricted Etoile du Nord.

Illinois-bred Wynn Time has been trained most of his career by Robertson’s father, Hugh, but when Wynn Time left Hugh’s barn this spring after a successful Fair Grounds meet he joined Mac at Oaklawn, where he missed in the $125,000 Hot Springs by a neck, then was beaten three-quarters of a length in the Grade 3 Count Fleet. Suffice it to say there is no one in the Paul Bunyan anywhere near as talented as Wynn Time, winner of both those races, and if Wynn Time gets into and out of the starting gate without incident, he’ll obviously be hugely formidable, and very low-priced.

Robertson has a second Paul Bunyan runner, Malibu Max, that also drops in class from graded stakes, but Malibu Max has been much more of a route horse than a sprinter during his career. Bourbon Cowboy, racing for the first time after being claimed by trainer Robertino Diodoro, might have a chance.

The Paul Bunyan goes as race 3, just after the fillies take their turn in race 2, the Etoile du Nord. Robertson sends out Thoughtless, who won the 2017 edition of this race by more than three lengths and is 2-1-0 from three Canterbury starts, and Hotshot Anna, 1 for 1 over the local dirt track and quite likely Thoughtless’ equal at the moment.