Undefeated stakes winner Tipsy Girl B will head four trials Sunday for the $72,300 Gopher State Futurity at Canterbury Park.

© Coady Photography

SHAKOPEE, MN—JULY 26, 2019—Four trials on Sunday will determine the field for the $72,300 Gopher State Futurity at Canterbury Park. The 350-yard final will be held on Sunday, August 11.

The open Gopher State Futurity replaces the state ownership-restricted NCQHRA Futurity; trainer Jason Olmstead had won the NCQHRA Futurity for the last five years straight. Olmstead will look for his sixth consecutive win in the race with one of his nine entrants in the trials, including the recent winner of the MQHRA Stallion Auction Futurity, Tipsy Girl B.

Undefeated in three starts, the Hes Relentless filly is owned by Tom Maher and Paul Luedemann and will be ridden by Cristian Esqueda. Bileau Oaks bred the filly in Texas.

The third trial will feature a rematch between Tipsy Girl B and Hr Storm On In, the Vic Hanson trainee who was the fastest qualifier to the MQHRA Stallion Auction Futurity and finished second to Tipsy Girl B in the final.

Four of the qualifiers to the Mystic Lake Northlands Futurity also will return in trials on Sunday, led by Left Town and Special Candy Kisses.

Left Town was the second fastest qualifier to the Northlands and finished third in the final in a tight photo. Second place finisher Special Candy Kisses returns for the trials, as does Royal Cash Flash and Sizzling Fajita, who had also qualified to the Oklahoma Futurity (G2) earlier this year.

One of the horses to beat in Sunday’s trials failed to qualify for the Northlands but had finished fourth in the Remington Park Oklahoma Bred Futurity (RG1) this spring: A Tres of Sign.

Also trained by Jason Olmstead, A Tres of Sign is a full sister to stakes winner A Tres of Paint and a half-sister to graded stakes winners Apollitical Sign and First Valiant Sign.

The trials will kick off the Sunday afternoon card at Canterbury; first post is 12.52 pm CT. Sunday will also serve as the annual Leg Up Day, a fundraiser event for the Leg Up Fund, which provides financial assistance to jockeys who are injured at Canterbury Park.

The Gopher State Futurity replaces the former North Central Quarter Horse Racing Association Futurity. The NCQRHA Futurity, founded by horsemen at Canterbury Park, served to provide a stake race for owners of horses based in the north-central region of the United States. The race was held for 22 years and included winners such as Northlands Futurity winner Jess Doin Time in 2018 and Paint Or More in 2011, dam of Pyc Jess Bite Mydust and Dickey Bob.

The 2019 Canterbury Park Quarter Horse stakes schedule includes 17 stakes races worth over $700,000.

Live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing continues through Saturday, September 14, 2019. The 66-day race meet offers racing on Thursday and Friday evenings at 6:00 pm CT and Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 12:45 pm CT in July. Quarter horse racing is held at the beginning of each race card.