Can't wait for the big showdown...

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

...at Canterbury! Heliskier vs Bourbon County should be a doozy. The two Minnesota bred geldings are destined to see each other before the meet ends. Heliskier is undefeated in 7 starts from 5.5f to 1m70y and has never really been asked to run.

Bourbon County flopped first out at Penn, then went to Canterbury and exploded with crushing wins of 14 and 9 lengths, earning 95 and 93 Beyer figures. You can have the Belmont, I love this stuff.

Those have to be the fast figs in Canterbury history who is the trainer?

[rgustafson]

Originally Posted by freddymo

Those have to be the fast figs in Canterbury history who is the trainer?

Freddy,
Heliskier's best Beyer is a 94. He is trained by Mac Robertson. Bourbon County is trained by Bernell Rhone who has been at Canterbury from day one in 1985. The only faster Beyer I could find was by Onlynurimagination who owns the track record for six furlongs at 108.04. The then six year old gelding by Marfa, a Texas bred, was given a 104 Beyer. He set the record in one of the claiming crown races on July 16, 2005.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by rgustafson

Freddy,
Heliskier's best Beyer is a 94. He is trained by Mac Robertson. Bourbon County is trained by Bernell Rhone who has been at Canterbury from day one in 1985. The only faster Beyer I could find was by Onlynurimagination who owns the track record for six furlongs at 108.04. The then six year old gelding by Marfa, a Texas bred, was given a 104 Beyer. He set the record in one of the claiming crown races on July 16, 2005.

Mr Rhone must be a heck of a trainer

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by freddymo

Mr Rhone must be a heck of a trainer

I think I could have trained that horse to win. He wins a pole or so.

[pmayjr]

Helliskier has only run against MN breds. I was disappointed after the CBY meet ended last fall, that Robertson didn't try running him against open company at Hawthorne or Oaklawn last fall or this past winter.

MN breds are pretty funky, so he's beating up on not much. The thing that kinda doesn't motivate Robertson to branch out against open company, is in the middle of the Canterbury meet last year was when they struck the purse agreement/partnership with Mystic Lake Casino. So the purses immediately went up, and will continue this way for years to come. So with all that money infused into the purses, what motivation do they have to run him against open company?

He could seriously become a poor-man's Star Guitar lol. I'm hoping that if he keeps dominating MN-breds, and he's seriously not just beating them, he's dominating them- that his connections will at least try him in an open allowance race somewhere. If he does well in that, try and move him up a little further. It's just tough to tell how good he actually is if he only runs against MN Breds. Let's see how this summer goes and see if its still worth discussing at that point.

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by pmayjr

He could seriously become a poor-man's Star Guitar lol. I'm hoping that if he keeps dominating MN-breds, and he's seriously not just beating them, he's dominating them- that his connections will at least try him in an open allowance race somewhere. If he does well in that, try and move him up a little further. It's just tough to tell how good he actually if he only runs against MN Breds. Let's see how this summer goes and see if its still worth discussing at that point.

That was the point though. Can he dominate Bourbon County? He looks like the real deal.

[rgustafson]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

That was the point though. Can he dominate Bourbon County? He looks like the real deal.

My understanding is that Bourbon County will follow the same path Heliskier took last year and point for the Victor Meyers and the Minnesota Derby races restricted to three year old Mn. breds. That could lead to a possible matchup on 9/1, Minnesota Festival of Champions day in races restricted to Mn. breds with two races as possibilities, both for three year old and up, one at six furlongs and one at 1 1/16 miles.

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by freddymo

Those have to be the fast figs in Canterbury history who is the trainer?

Probably Minnesota breds. Cheapskate surely had a big one when he beat my favorite horse Broad Brush in the St. Paul Derby, but that was before they were published.

[rgustafson]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

Probably Minnesota breds. Cheapskate surely had a big one when he beat my favorite horse Broad Brush in the St. Paul Derby, but that was before they were published.

Craig, another pre Beyer that had to be big was when Olympio set the track record for 1 1/8 miles in 146 2/5 in 1991 when he got up by a head at the wire under Edddie Delahoussaye to beat Julie Krone on Richman, in the then named Minnesota Derby.