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Jockey
Eddie Martin Jr. Wins Minnesota Oaks and Derby
Hunter’s Tiger Paw takes Oaks at 3/5 Odds; Longshot Tsar
Tops Dancer wins Derby
Shakopee, MN -July 31, 2010- Jockey Eddie Martin Jr. won the Minnesota Oaks on
the betting favorite, and the Minnesota Derby on a 29 to 1 longshot, Saturday at
Canterbury Park. Each race, at one mile and 70 yards on the main track, had a
$60,000 purse.
Martin sent Hunter’s Tiger Paw, the prohibitive 3/5 favorite, to the lead in the
Oaks and held off a late challenge to win by 1 ½ lengths in 1:42 2/5. She paid
$3.40 to win. Finishing second was Sasha’s Fierce and third was Yonstar.
Hunter’s Tiger Paw, owned by Joel and Kris Zamzow of Duluth, MN, won her second
stakes and fourth race in her six-race career but had never run on a dirt track.
“I was skeptical of her on the dirt,” trainer Cory Jensen said. “She showed a
lot of heart today. I was getting a little worried in deep stretch but she is a
good one.”
In the Minnesota Derby, Martin confounded the betting public when he won with
Tsar Tops Dancer for owners TTD Partners. The gelding returned $60.00 to win.
Martin tracked eventual third-place finisher Our Family Affair into the far turn
where they matched strides. Martin took the lead at the top of the stretch but
was passed in mid-stretch by Our Family Affair only to battle back again. He
held off a late charge by betting favorite Bet Your Boots and won by 1 ¼ lengths
in a final time of 1:43 3/5.
Tsar Tops Dancer provided trainer Nevada Litfin with his first Canterbury stakes
win. “I didn’t know if I could win this race but I knew if the horse was in
position to do it, I had the right rider,” Litfin said. “I give all the credit
to Eddie, he rode a great race.”
Seis It Fast, trained by leading quarter horse trainer Ed Ross Hardy, won the
North Central Quarter Horse Racing Association Futurity. Chicks Gold Metal ran
second and Rutoasted Ir ran third. Seis It Fast covered the 350-yards in 18.20
seconds. The 2-year-old gelding is owned by Robert and Julie Petersen of Cokato,
MN and was ridden by Ry Eikleberry.
“He didn’t start out real good, but he came on” Hardy said. “He’s got a bright
future. He’s a solid, tough and good horse to be around.”