Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Hot Shot Kid seeks rebound
Hot Shot Kid won four straight races last year at Canterbury Park and will be looking to start a new streak at the track Saturday when he runs in the $50,000 Minnesota Turf.
The race is one of two stakes restricted to horses bred in Minnesota on the program. The card also features the $50,000 Minnesota Turf Distaff.
The stakes are to be run at the “about” distance of 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf.
Mac Robertson, who trains Hot Shot Kid, will have a collective five starters in the two stakes races, with all of the horses owned by their breeders, he noted. Of his starters, four are stakes winners and one is multiple stakes-placed.
“Anytime you breed a stakes winner, and the breeder is the owner, you’re proud of raising a horse like that,” Robertson said. “Anytime you breed a horse that wins a stakes, that’s hard to do. It means a lot to them.” And to Robertson. “I like seeing stakes winners in my stalls,” he said. “It never gets old.”
Hot Shot Kid won five consecutive races last year in a streak that started at Oaklawn. His wins included the Minnesota Derby and Victor S. Myers Stakes at Canterbury, both for horses bred in Minnesota. Hot Shot Kid will be stretching back to two turns off a runnerup finish in the $50,000 10,000 Lakes at six furlongs in his first start of the Canterbury meet May 19.
“He worked really good the other day, looks good,” Robertson said. “I like that he got the one-hole going seven and a half.”
Dean Butler has the mount for owner Warren L. Bush.
Robertson’s other starters in the race are A P Is Loose, who won last year’s Minnesota Turf and was sixth last out in the 10,000 Lakes, and Teddy Time, another stakes winner on the grass at Canterbury who is making his first start since September.
In the Distaff, Robertson will saddle both Honey’s Sox Appeal and First Hunter.
“I think both will run well, they’re doing well,” Robertson said. “I expect both of them to be right there.”
Honey’s Sox Appeal is looking for her fourth stakes win, while First Hunter is chasing her first after running second in last year’s Distaff. – Mary Rampellini
Indiana Grand
Its Just Fate and Entrusted will each be looking for a second stakes win at the Indiana Grand meet Saturday night when the 3-year-olds run in separate $75,000 divisions of the ITOBA Stallion Season Stakes.
The races are both at a mile and are for the offspring of eligible stallions.
Its Just Fate became a stakes winner in his last start when he won the $104,000 Sagamore Sired Stakes by four lengths May 23 at Indiana. He set a quick pace and went on to cover six furlongs in a sharp 1:10.83. The Beyer Speed Figure of 60 that he earned is the best lastrace number in the ITOBA Stallion Season.
Its Just Fate will be making the move to two turns for the first time and looks like the race’s controlling speed. He is by the Sky Mesa stallion Skylord. Rodney Prescott has the mount for trainer Wayne Mogge.
Entrusted is part of an eighthorse field for the ITOBA Stallion Season Fillies. She won the $104,000 Swifty Sired Fillies in her last start May 23 at Indiana. She was always prominent in the six-furlong race run in 1:10.82, and for her 3 1/4-length win earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 60, which is the best career number in her division Saturday.
Entrusted is by the Cuvee stallion Noble’s Promise. Marcelino Pedroza has the mount for trainer Michael Lauer. – Mary Rampellini
Belterra Park
A large field of 13, led by twotime reigning Ohio-bred horse of the year Mo Dont No, has been entered for the $75,000 Sydney Gendelman Memorial Handicap on the Belterra Park turf Saturday.
Mo Dont No, who carries high weight of 123 pounds, finished second in the Gendelman Memorial last year in his only turf start and only try at this 1 1/16-mile distance. Most recently the winner of an allowance event May 16 at Thistledown in his second start of the year, he owns seven stakes victories, including two consecutive editions of the Best of Ohio Endurance Stakes on the state’s showcase program.
Mo Dont No, who is trained by Jeff Radosevich, will have to contend with the outside post under regular rider Ricardo Feliciano.
Among Mo Dont No’s opponents is Altissimo, who has won back-to-back races, including the Edward Babst/Albert Palacios Memorial Handicap at Belterra last time out. Also in the Gendelman is four-time reigning Ohio-bred champion sprinter Rivers Run Deep, who was second, six lengths behind Altissimo in the Babst/Palacios. He and Altissimo both carry 120 pounds.
Rivers Run Deep, who was nosed out in his bid for a fourpeat in the Best of Ohio Sprint last fall, won an optional-claiming race on the turf against open company last year at Churchill Downs. However, he is stretching beyond six furlongs for the first time since finishing third in the 2015 Gendelman Memorial.
– Nicole Russo