While Mac Robertson is assured of winning his ninth consecutive thoroughbred training title at Canterbury Park, the race for the Shakopee track's jockey championship has come down to the final weekend.

With three days of racing remaining in Canterbury's 69-day season, veteran rider Dean Butler leads Alex Canchari by four victories. Butler, winner of three Canterbury riding titles from 2009-2011, has won 64 races; Canchari, in his first full season at the track, has won 60. Canterbury ends its season with nine-race cards on Thursday and Friday and a 10-race matinee Saturday.

Canchari, 19, grew up in Shakopee and was working at a Canterbury concession stand only a few years ago. He has closed the gap on Butler with a late rush, including a five-victory evening on Aug. 29.

Robertson has held a hammerlock on the thoroughbred training title since 2005 and is cruising to another. He leads the pack with 47 victories, 17 more than Bernell Rhone and Mike Biehler, and has won $1,282,615 in purses — nearly $590,000 more than Rhone. Stacy Charette-Hill already has claimed the quarter horse training title with a remarkable record of 19 victories and 34 in-the-money finishes in only 37 starts, while Jorge Torres won 20 races to earn the quarter horse jockey title.

The final racing days also include Indian relay racing, a competition among nine teams from several American Indian nations. The sport features bareback riders who race around the track while switching horses at various intervals. There will be two heats Thursday, two Friday and a final Saturday featuring all nine teams.

Rachel Blount