ROCHESTER, MN – Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said his team “certainly will look at” the possibility of racing coming to Canterbury Park this summer, though most likely without spectators – at least for the short term.
In his daily corona virus press briefing Friday, Walz was asked by KSTP’s Tom Hauser about Canterbury Park possibly opening as horse owners need to make decisions soon on whether or not to ship horses to Minnesota for the summer or look for other options.
“I don’t envision, at least in the short run, you’re going to have the stadium seats at Canterbury full,” Walz said. “Would it be possible to keep social distancing, to have the trainers, the workers and the jockeys to be able to run? That’s something we certainly will look at.”
Canterbury Park postponed the opening of the backside to horses from late April until May 1 at the earliest. Every effort is being made by the racetrack and the Minnesota HBPA to keep to that revised timetable (Walz has a stay at home order in place through May 4) , though it is not anticipated that racing will be able to start before the end of May.
“This is really a humanitarian crisis for backside workers and horses. They simply need somewhere to go,” Minnesota HBPA President Scott Rake said. “We have made many financial concessions and are willing to bear some financial costs associated with keeping the track and backside open. It’s a shared sacrifice. We’re all in this together.”
Opening without spectators is more of a complex proposition for the track’s profitability than it appears. Canterbury’s on track handle has never been large and the track has relied on gate receipts and concessions to help turn a profit. The Shakopee oval draws a large family crowd and special event days like the July 3rd fireworks, can draw 20,000 fans. Can Canterbury make money racing without these spectators and the non-wagering income they provide is going to be question that needs to be addressed – especially by a publicly traded company.
Also, at stake are the number of days that Canterbury will be able to race. The 2012 agreement between the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and Canterbury provides for purse enhancements of $75 million over ten years. However, there is a requirement that the track must run a minimum of 65 days to receive that payment. It is unlikely that if racing begins in June that 65 racing days will fit in the calendar. Given the typical horse population, there are only so many days per week that cards can be filled and, as the calendar moves into the fall, the track loses horses to Remington Park, Keeneland and other fall racing destinations which would make it even harder to fill races.
While potentially ominous, there are discussions that may be underway to help mitigate some of the more pressing issues. Should a compromise agreement not be able to be reached to provide some of the additional funding for this season with the SMSC, perhaps some stakes races go on hiatus for a year with that money being pushed into overnights and Minnesota bred stakes races? Would this, combined with fewer racing days (50? 55?) be enough to mitigate a majority of an SMSC shortfall? The cancellation of the Twin Cities Summer Jam that was to close Canterbury for a week this summer brings that week back into play for additional racing dates as well.
If there is a still a dearth of racing on the weekly calendar, the racetrack could move racing toward the early part of the week as Fonner Park in Nebraska did to try and generate substantially higher handle (though admittedly with a considerably lower percentage of money going to Canterbury as opposed to on-track handle). Fonner has seen consistently high handle since making the change as has Will Rogers Downs in Oklahoma.
Finally, there is an issue for Minnesota racing fans that would not be able to attend the races. Currently Minnesotans are not legally able to bet on races run in the state with any of the Advanced Deposit Wagering companies because of state law. They can, however, bet on any other races in the country. Patrons that would have gone to Canterbury and wagered if they were allowed, do not have the ability to wager from home.
As we head into the last full week of April, no deadlines have been set, but it is anticipated that notification would have to come next week in order to give horsemen ample opportunity to finalize their plans and organize transportation.
