Thoroughbreds Saturday: RT returns to home track Canterbury for a card of day racing after a .500 night

May 25th, 2019 at Canterbury Park
It is a perfect spring day in The Twin Cities with a high of 73̊ and sunny skies.

Recapping last night and in full disclosure, I took a part-time job as a pari-mutuel teller and it was interesting. I was at the mezzanine level, right on the finish line and able to get a good view of the races. The speed is absolutely holding as the final race was the only one to come off the pace and I had the #2, which was DQ’d for bumping late. I peeled off the first three winners and yes, they were all favorites. In race three, I carded a kid who has never known what it felt like to put a razor to his face and he went heavy on the three. I asked him how he knew so much and he told me his father was a trainer and he grew up with horses. His dad is on the sidelines now. Interesting. He came back for race four and put a substantive bet, cashed it and took off. I wondered if Big Daddy sent him there to bet. Either way, good for him.

I ended up out of the money in four, hit five, six and seven went awry and as I mentioned earlier, was DQ’d in the eight. All in all, 4/8 for the night.

I will be there, in full regalia today and if anyone in the area is attending, come see me.

The first four races on the card are quarter horses and since this is something I have no interest in and do not follow, we’ll start with the fifth race.

Carryover Pick 5 - $5824.00
Best Bet:
Race 6: 2 - Vow Of Friends
Best Longshot:
Race 7: 4 - Mia Angel S (5/1)
Race 8: 8 - Ganso Galopante (4/1)

5th Race
$16K Claimers going 7.5F on turf for 3yo+ NW3
The beauty of turf racing is that most courses play relatively the same – look for closers to come off the pace. If you read the stats around the country, as well as outside this country, you’ll find that a very low percentage of winners in sprints wire the field. For more detail, go here http://www.brisnet.com/content/tag/at-a-glance/. Turf races are where both recognizing a pace collapse, and jockey skill come into play. In this race, I’m looking at the 10 – Union Riches (9/2) to be on the lead with the 3 – Cumulative, the 2 – Odyssey Explorer and the 4 – St. Biretta, to all be pressing. I give the nod to the 2 – Odyssey Explorer. This Diodoro trainee gets Elvin Gonzalez (19%) in the irons today for his first try with the track’s leading trainer. It’s a safe bet to say that he’ll give 100%.
Race 5 Bets:
2 - $50/w $100/p
$5 Exacta Box 2-3-10
$1 Tri 10-4/10-4-3/2, 10-4/2/10-4-3, 2/10-4/10-4-3

Running late as I hear the call to the post and the clock to punch in.

Race 6) $4K Waiver Claiming going 5.5F for 3yo+
2 – Vow Of Friends (2/1) looks like a tough out in this spot.

Race 7) $36.75K MSW going 1 Mile on the turf for F&M Staties 3yo+
4 - Mia Angel S (5/1) POD. Just got nipped at this level last out. Will get it done today.
8 – Kathleen V (8-1) Francisco A up and will have a pace to close in on.

Race 8) $7.5K MCL for Staties going 6F 3yo+
9 – Ganso Galopante (8-1) Best bet O’ The Day

Race 9) $15K OC going 7.5F on the turf for FR&M
2 – After Red Sun (7/2)
3 –Sass Machine (12/1)
6 – Good Marks (9/2)

Race 10) $5K MCL going 6F for F&M 3yo+
5 – Quacklikeaduck (5/2) drops tag prices and almost scored at Evangeline early last month in this class. Will be the one to catch.