This weeks 10th race feature at Minnesota Downs is the 4th running of The Green Van Special Stakes. A full field of 13 have entered the 7 furlong sprint to be run on the Supertoy 7 Marshall Turf Course. The open race for 3YO+ will offer a purse of $50,000.<\/P>
Let’s take a look at today’s field:<\/P>
1)LIKES IT FIRM—19\/1—<\/STRONG>1i6 sends this 4 year old colt out of ECTON PARK with a record of 26-8-4-2 and $144,681 in lifetime earnings. This 516th divisional ranked colt races out of Ohio. While this colt has only 1 stakes victory lifetime he has proven to be a solid allowance horse with over $100k in earnings. His lifetime best 102 speed rating was posted in his final race last year. He has 2 allowance wins so far this year including his last start on a yielding turf in Idaho. This horse is quick out of the gate and should be either on the lead or pressing the leaders in the race. Ireland (11.3%) will be the jockey up for today’s race.<\/P> 2)IRON ASSEMBLY—15\/1—<\/STRONG>ironmike2 sends this 4 year old colt out of CRAFTY PROSPECTOR with a record of 19-4-1-3 and $61,498 in lifetime earnings. He is out of the mare HARD PLATE who was 7\/25 at the track and who has 3 foals on records of which 2 are winners. This 526th divisional ranked colt races for the Iron Racing Stable based in the Del\/Penn area. He made his stakes debut in his last start where he\u00a0matched his lifetime best 100 speed rating\u00a0while finishing 2nd in Peurto Rico. Prior to that race he had won 2 allowance races in a row. This horse is a closer who finishes\u00a0very strong in the deep stretch and should enjoy the extra distance in the long sprint today.\u00a0He will be ridden by Foster (7.8%) today.<\/P> 3)TETE BLACK SCIENCE(GB)—7\/1<\/STRONG>—pisanof sends this 4 year old colt out of HAAFHD(GB) with a record of 26-7-3-5 and lifetime earnings of $140,036. This 131st divisional ranked colt races for the Pisano stables based in Kentucky. This colt was a 30,000 claim for the current connections midway thru last season. His new owners promptly ran his tag in starters before winning an allowance race in his 2006 finale. This year he won 2 allowance races but was 0\/5 in stakes races until his last start when he won The Alone In A Fan Memorial Stakes in Peurto Rico, winning in wire to wire fashion. His lifetime best 106 speed rating was posted earlier this year in one of his allowance wins. Although he has won at 7 furlongs in his career, he has tended to give up the lead late in the stretch in these long sprints of late and will need to be rated well by Annika (8.1%) to have something left in the tank for the final few yards.<\/P> 4)OTTO VASHER—7\/2—<\/STRONG>baracoon sends this 5 year old horse out of SEEKING THE GOLD with a record of 19-8-3-4 and lifetime earnings of $521,224. This 11th ranked horse runs out of the GR Simsters racing club so it is unsure if the owners will be at the track today due to the Smackdown festivities being held in California. This horse has won 4 stakes races lifetime including a Grade III race in his 2007 debut. In that race, The Everclear Handicap Stakes in Spain he posted his lifetime best 110 speed rating over the 5.5 furlong race and that has earned his the role as morning line favorite today. He comes into this race off an impressive win in a Texas overnite 7 furlong turf sprint stakes where he circled the field in the far turn and pulled away to a 11\/2 length win. This closer has a huge last kick and will be ridden by one of the best here in Minnesota, Friar (19.2%).<\/P> 5)ATHABASCA RIVER—9\/1—<\/STRONG>jyc sends this 4 year old colt out of CAPE TOWN with a record of 24-6-4-4 and lifetime earnings of $125,360. This 170th divisional ranked colt races for the Del\/Penn division of the Kobras stables. This colt was a $60,000 claim midway thru last year and after winning an allowance race for his new connections in his 2nd start for them took quite a while to find the winners circle again. He has fixed that problem with 3 wins this season including his fist stakes win two starts back in Louisiana where he posted his lifetime best 105 speed rating in The 7.5 fulong Seven Out Challenge Stakes. He returned to stakes action in his last start where he finished 3rd in Illinois but still posted a triple digit speed rating. He is another sharp closer and will be ridden by apprentice jockey B Unchy (12.5%) who has impressed so far in his short career.<\/P> 6)CONGAGATE—27\/1—<\/STRONG>pilgrim4 sends this 4 year old colt out of CONGAREE with record of 27-3-4-4 and lifetime earnings of $69,188. He is out of the mare WHASSONA LAKE who was 4\/37 at the track and who has 3 foals on record, all of them winners. He is another who runs out of the GR Simsters club and is being looked after by an assistant trainer while his connections are celbrating the Smackdown festivities. This 1832nd divisional ranked colt was a $5000 claim pickup in his first race this year and has earned a cheque in all but one of his races since the claim. He won his last start, a $5K starter allowance where he matched his lifetime best 97 speed rating. In his only stakes start to date he finished well back after not being able to get to the front early as is his preffered running style. The veteran Green (9.4%) will ride this longshot today.<\/P> 7)ZIPPITY DOOTER—21\/1—<\/STRONG>cut2004 sends this 5 year old horse out of VICTORY SPEECH with a record of 30-3-2-8 and lifetime earnings of $89,798. He is out of the mare SOLAR K. who was 0\/7 at the track and who has 3 foals on record of which one is a winner. This 587th divisional ranked horse runs for the unaffiliated Gcutty stables. This horse has not won since early in the 2006 racing season and will be making his 6th lifetime stakes start today. He has not crossed the wire first in a stakes race yet, 3 of those starts were as a 2 year old and the rest being late last year and early this year. He has finished in the money in 4 of those starts. His lifetime best 98 speed rating was posted in one of those stakes starts, in his 2006 finale where he finished 2nd in Upper New York. While previously a closer he has tried to show early foot in his last 2 starts but has usually flattened out in the stretch. The veteran Stinson (9.8%) will try to get this one back on the winning track today.<\/P> 8)KAWIKA NINE—7\/1—<\/STRONG>kateri sends this 4 year old colt out of BROTO with a record of 22-7-6-3 and lifetime earnings of $341,936. He is out of the mare ANNOYING LEWIS who was 10\/64 at the track and who has 3 foals on record of which one is a stakes winner. This 52nd divisional ranked horse runs for the unafilliated Ddahl stables. This horse has won 1 stakes race in each of his 3 years of racing, all of the overnite variety. His lifetime best 105 speed rating was posted last year while winning The Time Out Bonanza Stakes in Denmark. That race was in the middle of a 5 race streak where he posted triple digit speed ratings. This closer’s form has come down a little in his last 2 starts and it will be up to the talented veteran Bowen (18.9%) to give him a lift and get him back to top form for today’s race.<\/P> 9)LANQUID VICE—8\/1—<\/STRONG>cassaleria sends this 8 year old horse out of UNBRIDLED with a record of 24-7-1-6 and lifetime earnings of $187,784. This 794th divisional ranked horse races for the AJM racing stables based in Ireland. This horse returned to the track after a 2 year absence this season and has performed admirably considering both his age and time off from racing. He did have a stakes win in 2003 and posted his lifetime best 112 speed rating in an allowance win in 2004. His top speed rating this year is 101 which he posted earlier this season in his only win since his comeback, a restricted allowance start in Rhode Island. He has started in 3 overnite stakes races as of late and while not finding the winners circle has cashed a cheque in each of the starts. This closer will be ridden by Hijacked (11.8%) who is an underrated jockey on this circuit.<\/P> 10)RATTLESHIRT—8\/1—<\/STRONG>stormborn2 sends this 4 year old colt out of MORE THAN READY with a record of 18-8-1-1 and lifetime earnings of $358,239. He is out of the mare WESTERN STORMER who was 2\/23 at the track and who has 4 foals on record, all winners with 1 stakes winner and another a Graded stakes winner. This 108th divisional ranked colt runs for the Given stables based in the GR Simsters racing club. Given will be represented by an assistant at today’s race with his many runners in the Smackdown competition running in California today. This colt has 3 lifetime stakes wins, including a Graded stakes win in his past performances. He posted his lifetime best 104 speed rating in the Graded win last year in The Grade II Jockey Club Classic in Sweden. After running off a 3 race win streak he has found it tough in his last 2 starts, both Graded stakes races where he has finished well back after failing to find his usual late closing move in the stretch. This return to an overnite stakes will hopefully help him refind his form albeit this has turned out to being a talented field. Talented apprentice jockey O Man (12.5%) will be the rider today.<\/P> 11)SIR COX RIDGE—8\/1—<\/STRONG>metswin sends this 4 year old colt out of SIR CHEROKEE with a record of 15-5-1-1 and lifetime earnings of $110,104. This 202nd divisional ranked horse will be the huge hometown fan favorite today racing for the Chuckrock Conglomorate Stables which take up barns 3 thru 12 in the Minnesota backstretch. The blue and orange colors are a mainstay here in Minnesota and he has just finished doing both Leno and Letterman this past week after being featured in the BTB big time stable series by Pazjazz. After going on a nine race losing streak since early in the 2006 campaign this colt has found his stride by posting 3 straight wins. In his last he won his stakes debut race while posting a 107 speed rating, matching his lifetime mark form his previous race, in The Live Shin Challenge Stakes in Illinois. In that race he pressed the early pace and took command in the top of the stretch maintaining his 11\/2 length lead to the wire. He will be a serious threat today of his peak form at the moment. Twenty year veteran Ritterspauch(7.6%) will make it in from the senior citizens home to ride todays 10th race feature.<\/P> 12)TIPPY’S LOVE—10\/1—<\/STRONG>relaytx sends this 4 year old colt out of SUCCESSFUL APPEAL with a record of 24-6-4-7 and lifetime earnings of $197,259. He is out of the mare FERTILE RACCOON who was 1\/30 at the track and this is the only foal on record. This 234th divisional ranked colt has mixed between running on both the dirt and turf surfaces. Three of his six wins came in his 2 year old season. After winning an allowance in his season opener he has not won in 5 races since albeit this colt does manage to pick up minor shares in a majority of his races. He posted his lifetime best 104 speed rating while finishing in 3rd in a Texas stakes sprint in his last start. Another of many closers today, which means whoever gets the better trip will have an advantage in the stretch drive. Gordon (7.6%) is the jockey for this colt today.<\/P> 13)STOP THAT(IRE)—9\/1—<\/STRONG>dokki2 sends this 5 year old horse out of SWAIN(IRE) with a record of 19-7-6-1 and lifetime earnings of $181,784. He is out of the mare SAGAMORE HILL who was 10\/44 at the track and this is the only foal on record and will be the only foal on record after the patented he’s a\u00a0horse she’s a horse surgery perfected at the simulated sports equine hospital located in the south side of Louisville, Kentucky. This 244th divisional ranked horse switched to the turf for good last year after running on the dirt for all but his MSW win in his career. Since the switch he has picked up 4 allowance wins including posting his lifetime best 102 speed rating earlier this year. He has yet to make it to the winners circle in 3 stakes starts this year, finishing 2nd once, and is another closer that will have to jockey for position with many in the far turn. The Napper (12.5%) will hopefully stay awake long enough to give this horse a chance at the win today.<\/P> NOTE #11 SIR COX RIDGE IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE MINNESOTA DOWNS 200 CREDIT PURSE BONUS SHOULD HE WIN THE RACE TODAY.<\/P> WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE MINNESOTA DOWNS RESIDENCY THIS WEEK<\/U><\/STRONG><\/P> Dundey, a mainstay member of the Minnesota Downs backstretch finally made it to the top of Mt Everest last week and took home the 1000 credit prize.<\/P> Fabman won the speed rating contest last week by fractions of a second over BigRick when his Southern Blues posted a 107 speed rating.<\/P> Nameless’s Mr Hagar took his second straight leg of the Last Man Standing contest last week. Tseals Tony Oliva became the second horse eliminated from the contest. <\/P> The 6th leg of the Sire Series 2 for Gulch bred horses runs as the 16th race this week with an 8 furlong dirt race. Cothill’s BigGulp RyRy continues to lead in that series.<\/P> GOOD LUCK AND GOOD RACING<\/P> THEO<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TURF SPRINTERS HEADLINE MINNY CARD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4474\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}