THIS WEEK IN MINNESOTA—WEEK 3385

This week’s Minnesota Downs 10th race feature race is The Doctor Niner Bonanza Stakes. Fillies and Mares aged 3YO+ will be going 11 furlongs on the dirt track chasing down the top share of the $45,000 purse.

Let’s take a look at today’s field:

1)SWEET CHARITY—2/1—shadier sends this 5 year old mare out of ALDEBARAN with a record of 41-13-8-6 and lifetime earnings of $307,616. She is out of the mare NURSE HANNAH who was 1/3 at the track and who has 4 foals on record of which 3 are winners including 1 stakes winner. This 85th divisional ranked mare races for the Coolk stables that is owned by the resident management team over at the EAAA racing residency. This mare broke her maiden in her 2 year old season and then won 2 allowance races at 3. In her 4 year old campaign she she picked up 7 win in route allowances and has added 3 more wins this year including a stakes win in The Clutch Hitter Memorial Stakes in Massachusetts. She posted her lifetime best 106 speed rating in July of 2006 in a 12 furlong dirt allowance win and has posted back to back triple digit speed rating for the first time in her career in her last 2 starts. She is a closer who loves this distance and her experience has made her the morning line favorite in this race today. The rider for today’s race will be Bowen (19.4%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—99.

2)AMIGHETTI—5/2—fetti50 sends this 4 year old mare out of FANTASTIC LIGHT with a record of 21-6-4-2 and lifetime earnings of $112,226. She is out of the mare I AM AN ANGER who was 10/47 at the track and this is the only foal on record to date. This 591st divisional ranked mare races for the unafilliated fetti50 stables. This filly debuted on the turf as a 2 year old and broke her maiden on that surface in her first race in her 3 year old season. She was switched to the dirt later that year and picked up a $100k claiming race win as her only other victory last year. She has turned things around this year posting 4 allowance race wins already so far and posted her lifetime best speed rating of 103 2 races back in one of those allowance route wins. She came up short when she switched to the turf last time out in her usual late closing rally settling for 3rd in The L P Launch Pad Special stakes in New Mexico on a slightly off dirt track. She has won her only other lifetime start at the 11 furlong distance of today’s race with no problems. The rider for today’s race will be Ritorto (12.3%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—100.

3)DON’T PREACH EM—6/1—eman sends this 4 year old mare out of PULPIT with a record of 15-3-4-4 and lifetime earnings of $122,656. She is out of the he-mare LAUGHING FOR SKY who was 6/64 at the track. This 363rd divisional ranked mare races for the local stables of Cothill who bases his stables in the backstretch right here at Minnesota Downs. This mare was unraced as a 2 year old and and picked up 1 win in 5 starts last year. She has added a pair of allowance wins so far this season. She posted her lifetime best speed rating of 95 earlier this year while finishing in 2nd place in an 11 furlong dirt route in California. She has been showing speed in her last few races but has had a tendency to fade in the late stretch prompting a cutback to 11 furlongs from the mile and a half she had been running for this start today. She will probably have company with the 3 year old filly on the front end today but should she be able to get soft fractions she could be the sleeper in today’s race. The rider for today’s race will be Jackson (8.8%) as the barns regular rider has abandoned his family connections and chosen another mount for today’s race. PROJECTED SPEED RATING—89.

4)PROMINENT(KY)—3/1—lenny3 sends this 3 year old filly out of SEEKING THE GOLD with a record of 10-4-0-1 and lifetime earnings of $170,944. This 26th divisional ranked filly races for Lenny’s Evil Empire based over at the GR Simsters. This filly was previously under the care of the pg45 stables and in fact won 3 races under their care including her 2 year old debut MSW start. Included in those wins was a win in The Grade III The Depression Hero STakes earlier this year in New York where she posted her lifetime best 103 speed rating over 11 furlongs on the dirt. After a failed attempt in The Grade I Sister Hen Stakes in June she was entered into the auction where her current owners picked her up for the tidy sum of $5,420,001. She has run twice for her new connections, firstly in an overnite stakes race where she had the lead at the top of the stretch but could not hold on in a 12 furlong stakes race and then last time out where she won a 10 furlong NW4L allowance race. She has some speed and could perhaps ensure an honest pace here today but in her only previous attempt against racing with older she folded up badly in the stretch drive. The rider for today’s race will be Friar (18.2%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—98.

5)SATISFACTION—5/1—coltsblue sends this 4 year old mare out of BIRDSTONE with a record of 20-7-3-0 and lifetime earnings of $60,065. She is out of the mare KALOOKAN PRINCESS who was 3/30 at the track and who has 2 foals on record, both winners with this mare being a stakes winner. This 152nd divisional ranked mare has just moved into the barns in the Minnesota Downs backstretch and is being looked after by local trainer Bluehorse. This mare was originally in the Kaif stables based over in The Great Plains looked after by Trainer Greg but was claimed by her current owners for the rockbotton price of $2,500 in April of this year. She has come on to win 3 of her 5 starts for her new connections including a win in The Quatorze Quatorze Special Stakes in Oregon where she posted her lifetime best 100 speed rating in the 14 furlong dirt race. While she has won at 11 furlongs before in her career, right now it does appear she prefers more ground so she will need to start her move a little earlier than normal if she wants to get up first to the wire in her patented late stretch drive. The rider for today’s race will be the apprentice Cothill (14.5%) who has opted to ride this mare over his families barn’s entry which may be a sign of what to expect in this race today. PROJECTED SPEED RATING—98.

6)POINT BREAK—6/1—lacostra sends this 4 year old mare out of POINT GIVEN with a record of 29-7-8-2 and lifetime earnings of $104,176. She is out of the he-mare RAW EMOTION who was 16/43 at the track. This 207th divisional ranked mare races for the De/Penn National division of the Topicount stables. The current owners claimed this mare for $25,000 in February of 2006 and picked up 3 wins with her during the rest of her 2006 campaign. This year she was having a rough go of it early on prompting a switch to the turf for 3 starts where she won an allowance race on a turf course rated good over 16 furlongs and has 2 other 2nd place finishes. She switched back to the dirt last time out in The Z Z Desert Challenge Stakes over 12 furlongs on the dirt in Mexico where she posted her lifetime best 100 speed rating. She closed well in the stretch in that race and there are several who enjoy the same style who are running here today making it very important to have a clear lane for the stretch drive to ensure the best trip and best possible speed output. The rider for today’s race will be Stinson (9.2%). PROJECTED SPEED RATING—96.

NOTE #3 DON’T PREACH EM AND #5 SATISFACTION ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE MINNESOTA DOWNS RESIDENCY 200 CREDIT PURSE SUPPLEMENT SHOULD THEY WIN THE RACE.

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE MINNESOTA DOWNS RESIDENCE THIS WEEK

This week mark’s the final week in the current 13 week trainers competition but the current scores after last weeks results are still unavailable due to some technical problems with the tote equipment at the downs. Our technicians are working diligently around the clock and hope to have the glich repaired and working shortly.

We have also changed our message board over at Minnesota Downs so all members are urged to get on the new board and register. The URL for the new board is  http://minnesotadowns.myfreeforum.org/forum1.php

Further rez announcement will be made next week once we have settled into our new MB home.

GOOD LUCK AND GOOD RACING

THEO