SHAKOPEE, MN – As Canterbury Park opens for its 26th season Tuesday night amid the backdrop of easing covid restrictions, the oval is poised for a return of racing that will start to look more “normal” compared to 2020 with a Spring start date, Sunday family days and fans back in attendance – albeit still not at ‘full house’ levels to begin.
With a few exceptions, racing days this year will be evenings Tuesday – Thursday and Sunday afternoons. The majority of Thoroughbred stakes will be run on Wednesday evenings with Minnesota Festival of Champions night to be Wednesday, September 8 and the Canterbury Turf Festival presented by Mystic Lake will be run June 23rd. The Turf Festival features six stakes including the Mystic Lake Mile, the Curtis Sampson (formerly the Northbound Pride), the Lady Canterbury and the Mystic Lake Derby.
The first Quarter Horse stake of the season will be the Bob Morehouse on Memorial Day. The Quarter Horse Challenge series returns to Canterbury Park again this season on July 6 with three Challenge Series races along with the Stallion Auction Futurity. Both the Canterbury Park Distaff Challenge and the Bank of America Canterbury Park Championship Challenge carry Grade III status this season, the only graded stakes for either breed to be run in Minnesota this summer. The trials for the Challenge Series will take place on June 22.
With an increase in overnight purses and the graded stakes on the schedule, the 2021 Quarter Horse season is shaping up to be very competitive.
To start the season, capacity controls will be in effect so it is recommended that tickets be purchased in advance on-line. The initial limit will be 2500 fans at the venue and while that is expected to expand as the summer progresses, the track will be limited, as are many businesses in the region, by the lack of employees.
“We are thrilled to be racing and to have more fans in the stands,” Canterbury Park President Randy Sampson said. “Our priority is to provide the quality guest experience that we are known for to do that we will start with 2,500 guests and increase capacity in a responsible and safe way as we onboard more employees. I expect to welcome in excess of 7,500 to 10,000 guests as the summer progresses.”
The backside will be limited to trainers, barn employees and track staff to start but it is expected that the area will be opened up to owners again as the season progresses.
The success of the 10% traditional pick five has encouraged the track to scrap the Jackpot Pick 6 and introduce a non-jackpot (traditional) 10% pick six. The base wager for the new pick six will be one dollar.
“There is no doubt that the low takeout in the Pick 5 was a factor in attracting new players to our racing product,” Canterbury’s track analyst Brian Arrigoni said. “Those new players liked what they saw with our weeknight mix of turf and dirt races and solid field size and not only bet into that low-takeout pool but also found appealing wagering opportunities across other pools as well.”
The Pick 5 averaged $79,500 in wagers per pool in 2020 and totaled more than $4.1 million throughout the season. Both were astronomical increases over 2019 when the wager attracted an average Jackpot Pick 5 Pool of $8,366 and season-total wagering of slightly more than $550,000.
Throughout horse racing social media, bettors have been clamoring for more non-jackpot options. The jackpot wagers can only be won when only a single ticket holds the winning combination and the takeout can run astronomically high causing most players to leave the wager alone until “must payout” days occur (in Canterbury’s case, the last day of the meet). With solid field size the first week of the meet, it will be interesting if the players nationwide respond to the new wagering option.
Action has been strong at the entry box opening week with an average field size of 9.16 for the first three days of racing. It appears as if many horsepeople are ready to run early this year and take advantage of the $1000 starter bonus in the month of May the track used as an incentive to bring horses and be ready to run.
Canterbury’s marketing department made the decision this spring to release its promotional schedule and sell admission tickets month by month as guidance from the state regarding capacity became clear. Events such as Corgi Dog races, Extreme Day, and a fireworks display are now possible and will be added to the schedule throughout the summer.
Post time on Tuesday night, and most weekday evenings, will be 5:00 CT for the nine-race card. Sunday racing will start at 1 PM CT.
Horse looks taller than I remember. 😉
Day 1 of 2021 meet. Wind outside was brisk by 2nd race, the distanced crowd was quite manageable & many patrons wore masks when in close proximity to others.