Jareth Loveberry returned to Canterbury Park last fall with a straightforward goal. Win the Shakopee Juvenile Stakes aboard Two Phil's, go back to Chicago with a share of the $50,000 purse and get a clearer picture of the colt's capabilities.
No one — not the fans, not Loveberry, not trainer Larry Rivelli — could have known where that day would lead. On Saturday, Loveberry will ride Two Phil's in the Kentucky Derby, eight months after they stood in the winner's circle at Canterbury Park. The 149th edition of the Derby will be the first for Loveberry, who rode for three seasons in Shakopee and was Canterbury's champion jockey in 2017.
Two Phil's had a relatively smooth path to Churchill Downs, gaining steam throughout the winter before winning the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby in March to earn his place in the Derby starting gate. Loveberry took a more circuitous route. Once an aspiring architect, he left college for a life at the racetrack, learning his trade on a now-defunct ⅝-mile track in his native Michigan.
Rivelli could have opted to replace Loveberry with a big-name rider for the Derby, but the jockey's skill and his rapport with Two Phil's kept him in the saddle. It's still hard for Loveberry to believe where they will be Saturday.
"After we won the Jeff Ruby, it didn't hit me for a good week or so,'' said Loveberry, 35, who has 1,759 career victories. "That was the biggest race I'd ever won. And then, to know we were going to the Kentucky Derby, it was just surreal.
"Everyone wants to be in the Derby. And for someone like me, who's ridden for 18 years and put in the time, that makes it even better.''
His Canterbury cheering section will include trainers Mac Robertson and Mike Biehler, who persuaded Loveberry to ride in Minnesota, and Richard Grunder, his agent in Shakopee. Grunder said Two Phil's was "breathtaking'' in his Shakopee Juvenile victory last fall, though he didn't see this coming.
"It's just a great story,'' Grunder said. "This horse has a good pedigree, and I think his racing style is perfect for the Derby. I'm going to be on the edge of my couch rooting for them.''