Festival of Champions celebrates 30th anniversary at Canterbury Park

Canterbury Downs created the Festival of Champions in 1992, not long before the Shakopee horse track shut down. When the track reopened in 1995 as Canterbury Park, it revived the Festival — and the annual celebration of Minnesota's horse racing and breeding industry is still going strong. Saturday marks the 30^th anniversary of the Festival of Champions, which features six stakes races offering a total of $500,000 in purses for Minnesota-bred horses.

When: First post 4 p.m.

Admission: $10 adults, $7 youth ages 6-17, 5 and under free. There is a discount of $2 per ticket if purchased in advance at canterburypark.com

Schedule: The card includes 10 races, highlighted by the six thoroughbred stakes. Two quarter horse stakes that are usually part of the Festival of Champions — the $40,000 Minnesota Futurity and the $40,000 Minnesota Derby — have been moved to Wednesday's race card.

The stakes begin with the $75,000 Blair's Cove Minnesota Turf Championship (race 2, 4:35 p.m.), followed by the $75,000 Crocrock Minnesota Sprint Championship (race 3, 5:05 p.m.), the $100,000 Northern Lights Debutante (race 4, 5:35 p.m.), the $75,000 Princess Elaine Minnesota Distaff Turf Championship (race 6, 6:45 p.m.), the $100,000 Northern Lights Futurity (race 8, 7:45 p.m.) and the $75,000 Bella Notte Minnesota Distaff Sprint Championship (race 9, 8:15 p.m.).

* Bob Lothenbach won four of the six Festival stakes last year, and he's bringing another impressive herd to this summer's edition. Lothenbach, of Wayzata, has nine entries Saturday, including defending champions Midnight Current (Princess Elaine distaff turf) and Charlie's Penny (Bella Notte distaff sprint).

With only three days of racing left in the season, Lothenbach is cruising to his fourth consecutive title as champion owner. His horses have won 44 races — nearly three times as many as second-place Pete Mattson — and $885,038 in purses.

Lothenbach's stable has won the past three runnings of the Northern Lights Futurity, and he stands a good chance of making it four in a row. His 2-year-old gelding Frosty View is the 3-1 second choice among 10 entries, the largest field on the stakes card.

* The 3-year-old filly Cupid's Crush already has two stakes victories this season, taking the $50,000 Frances Genter and the $79,000 Curtis Sampson Oaks. She will take on older rivals in the Bella Notte, looking to extend a magnificent meet. Cupid's Crush has three wins and a second in four races this summer at Canterbury, topping the standings with $119,600 in purses for owner Xtreme Racing Stables.

She has a speedy stablemate, too. Xtreme Diva is the 7-5 morning-line favorite in the Northern Lights Debutante, following a 12 ½-length score in her career debut Aug. 9.

* Trainer Mac Robertson is the undisputed king of Festival day, with 39 total winners. His eight entries Saturday put him in good position to build on that. Robertson will saddle two top contenders in the Bella Notte — Cupid's Crush and 2021 champ Clickbait — and Xtreme Diva in the Debutante.