Canterbury’s eight-time training champion could three-peat in each race
The $23,600 North Star State Futurity and $22,000 North Star State Derby will each be run for the third time when the quarter horse racing season begins Wednesday night at Canterbury Park and trainer Jason Olmstead has never lost either race. Olmstead, currently among the top quarter horse trainers in the country in purse earnings and wins, will saddle three of the five in the Derby and six of the nine in the Futurity. Wednesday’s program begins at 5:00 p.m. central with seven thoroughbred races and concludes with the Derby as race 8 and Futurity as 10 with a maiden dash in between. Both stakes are restricted to horses bred in Minnesota.
“Like usual, I’ve got some good Minnesota breds,” said Olmstead, who has 120 horses in training and will campaign this summer at Canterbury, Prairie Meadows in Iowa and Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.
One of those Minnesota breds is Beep Beep Rev Rev, winner of the 2022 North Star State Futurity, the 4 to 5 favorite in Wednesday’s 400-yard Derby. The filly, bred and owned by Summer Run Inc, will again be ridden by Edwin Escobedo who has won the Canterbury quarter horse riding title the past two seasons. Escobedo also won the 2021 rendition of the North Star State Derby.
Three of the nine entered in the North Star State Futurity will be making their first career start and the other six each were defeated in their debuts at Remington this spring. Olmstead’s half-dozen in the Futurity includes 2 to 1 morning line favorite Relentless Minnie with Escobedo aboard for Summer Run Inc while Luis Valenzuela, tied for second in last year’s standings, has the mount on Tom Maher’s Cathy Wagon.
Olmstead along with wife Amber Olmstead (nee Blair) were inducted into the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame in 2022. He has won the training title the past eight seasons while she is seventh in all-time wins and purse earnings as a trainer at Canterbury.
