Mystic Lake Derby, with its $150,000 purse, highlights big Wednesday at Canterbury Park

NORTHERN STARS RACING FESTIVAL

One of Canterbury Park's biggest racing days this season, Wednesday's Northern Stars Racing Festival includes six stakes worth a total of $610,000 in purses. Some of the country's top trainers are shipping horses to Shakopee to run in the $150,000 Mystic Lake Derby, Canterbury's richest race of the season, and four other stakes with purses of $100,000 each.

When: Wednesday, first post 5:10 p.m.

TV: FS2, 5 p.m.

Tickets: Only general admission seats remain. Tickets purchased online in advance are $8 for adults and $3 for youth 17 and under, or $10 and $5 at the track on race day.

The Mystic Lake Derby: A 1-mile turf race for 3-year-olds, the marquee event drew a field of 11 colts and geldings. Brad Cox — trainer of Mandaloun, runner-up to Medina Spirit in the Kentucky Derby — has the favorite in T D Dance, who has two wins in three starts this year. Mike Maker, sixth in the nation with $5.9 million in purses this year, trains 4-1 Chess's Dream and 12-1 Shady McGee.

Top locally connected entries include Bodenheimer, trained by Valorie Lund, and Modern Science, owned by Bob Lothenbach of Wayzata. Bodenheimer started his career at Canterbury last summer before running in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Modern Science has been in the money in all four career starts.

Other stakes: Maker and Cox will send out the top two choices in the $100,000 Mystic Lake Mile. Parlor, trained by Maker, is the 5-2 favorite; Hieronymus, saddled by Cox, is 4-1 and has four wins in eight career races. Cinco Star, a Mac Robertson trainee, has run in the money in 18 of 20 Canterbury starts and is 9-2.

Like the Mile, the $100,000 Lady Canterbury Stakes also drew nine entries and will be run at one mile on the turf. Another of Maker's entries, Evil Lyn, is the 2-1 favorite. Beach Flower, the 2019 Lady Canterbury champion, also comes from the Robertson barn and ran second in Canterbury's Minnesota HBPA Distaff Stakes last month.

The six stakes races begin with the $100,000 Curtis Sampson Oaks at 6:10 p.m., followed by the $100,000 Dark Star Turf Sprint, the $60,000 MTA Stallion Auction Stakes, the Lady Canterbury, the Mystic Lake Mile and the Mystic Lake Derby.

Stars in the saddle: Two of the country's best jockeys also are making the trip to Shakopee to ride Wednesday. Florent Geroux, who guided Mandaloun to his second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby last month, currently ranks fifth among North American riders this year with $8.8 million in purse earnings. Ricardo Santana, Jr., is two spots behind Geroux with $8.6 million. Geroux is aboard Cox's three entries Wednesday, and Santana is riding Maker's four horses.