Canterbury Park Picks & Predictions — September 17, 2026
This card ran on September 17, 2026.
Best bets at Canterbury Park, September 17, 2026
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It's a beautiful Thursday at Canterbury Park — partly cloudy skies and a comfortable 74°F means the turf courses should be running true all afternoon. That's good news on a card that leans heavily on the grass, with three of the eight races scheduled for the lawn, including both openers.
Eight races are on the board today, mixing maiden special weights, claimers, and a pair of allowance-level spots to round out the late card. The class diversity gives bettors a chance to find angles across multiple betting levels, whether you're playing cheap claimers or digging into the allowance optional claiming in Race 7.
TrackWiz analysis has strong opinions on several races today — including a couple of legitimate longshot angles in the turf maiden and the Ratings Handicap. Let's break it down.
Best Bets
Race 1
Maiden Special Weight · 7 1/2 fur · Turf
A maiden turf sprint where two standout TrackWiz ratings create a clear top tier, but the morning line favorite and the program favorite don't agree — expect a pace battle that sorts out quickly on this 7½-furlong trip.
English Icon enters with the field's highest TrackWiz rating at 88.54 and draws the morning-line chalk at 2/1, meaning the market and our model are aligned here. Trainer Valorie Lund puts Eduardo Gallardo in the irons, a combination worth tracking on the grass. At 7½ furlongs on turf, this is a route-leaning trip that tends to reward horses with a sustained running style, and English Icon's profile fits that mold. In a maiden field with zero career wins across the board, having the top rating by a meaningful margin is a significant edge.
Loco Por Ser Libre is the morning-line favorite at 9/5 despite carrying a TrackWiz rating of 81.23 — second-best in the field. Trainer Santiago Tranquilino sends out Constantino Roman, and the 9/5 price suggests strong connections-side confidence. The slight rating gap behind English Icon is real, but in maiden company on the turf, a horse this well-regarded by the market is a strong place candidate and a logical exotics anchor.
Days in Dublin at 5/1 owns the third-highest rating in the field at 52.48 — a meaningful step above the bottom half of this lineup. Jockey Kelsi Harr has been active on the Canterbury card, and trainer Troy A. Bethke knows how to spot horses in spots where they can hit the board. In a six-horse turf maiden, the show pool can be thin, making Days in Dublin a sensible safety net in tri bets.
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Today at Canterbury Park is headlined by strong turf conditions, a card-best rating on Eightysixchevy in Race 4, and a free-race value shot with My Everything at 6/1 to kick things off on the lawn. The first three races are fully unlocked — dive in and enjoy. For pace scenarios, exotic strategies, and the complete eight-race breakdown, subscribers have everything they need waiting for them. Good luck out there.