There are 19 horses slated to run in the 149th Kentucky Derby, but only one horse and its jockey have a unique connection to Shakopee’s Canterbury Park.

It was just eight months ago when Two Phil’s, a chestnut colt, won the Shakopee Juvenile Stakes with jockey Jareth Loveberry onboard.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Loveberry at Canterbury Park.

Loveberry, 35, raced horses at Canterbury for several years, including winning the award for the top winning jockey of the 2017 season.  

“He was the guy who would stop in the winner’s circle if the kids wanted an autograph or wanted a pair of goggles, or on the way to the paddock, he’d stop and talk, take photos and things, he really associated with the fans,” said Jeff Maday, a long-time Canterbury Park senior staff member.

Maday has seen a lot of jockeys come and go from the track but says Loveberry was quite unique and will now be getting ready for his first career mount in the Kentucky Derby.

“With a legitimate chance to win, he’s not on some long shot,” Maday said. “By some figures, is the fastest horse in the race.”

Two Phil’s destroyed the field in the race back in the fall at Canterbury, which then sent the colt on a journey, that helped springboard him to win bigger races.

“I went down to the jocks’ room and saw Jareth; I said, ‘Boy, you’ve got a long ways to go, but he might be the real deal,’ and he just crossed his fingers, and he said, ‘Richard, I think he is the real deal,” recalled Richard Grunder, Loveberry’s former agent at Canterbury Park.

Grunder will watch his former jockey Saturday, who has won more than 1700 races, try to win the biggest race of his life at the Derby.

“He’s a great person off the track as well as on the track; he continued to get better and better,” said Grunder. “It’s a great, great story.” Two Phil’s is one of the most experienced runners in the field, having made eight career starts before the Derby.