Shakopee, MN – Canterbury Park kicks off its 25th anniversary season under the current ownership group Friday night. Post time for the nine-race card will be 6:00 PM and the weather is supposed to cooperate for opening weekend with spring temperatures dry skies in the forecast.
The Shakopee oval originally opened in 1985 as Canterbury Downs but closed shortly after the 1992 season. Randy Sampson, his father Curtis, and businessman Dale Schenian purchased the track and surrounding property in 1994 and re-opened for simulcast racing in May of that year. With a new name, Canterbury Park, and a business plan that included year-round simulcasting, special events, and the notion of land development in the future, live horse racing returned to the state in the summer of 1995.
“This is a milestone season for our fans and supporters of Minnesota horse racing,” Canterbury Park president and CEO Randy Sampson said. “From the early days when we were given little chance to succeed to where we are now with a growing fan base, a successful card casino, and development of the property underway, it has been a remarkable and wild ride. We owe a lot to those that believed from the beginning that this could happen in Shakopee.”
In 2000, the Canterbury Card Casino opened, providing additional funding for racing purses. A 2012 cooperative marketing and purse enhancement agreement with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, owners and operators of nearby Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, provides $83 million toward purse supplements and joint marketing of the two properties and the region known as RiverSouth-Land of Big Fun. That agreement runs through 2022. In October of 2018, ground was broken for Canterbury Commons, a multi-use redevelopment expected to attract more than $400 million in private investment.
“The commitment of many has made it possible for us to celebrate the start of our 25th season of racing and to look forward to many more,” Sampson said. “I am proud of past and current staff that worked tirelessly to make Canterbury Park not only a successful business and racetrack but also a valuable community member. We came a long way from 1994 and we have plans for an exciting future.”
Returning jockeys include last year’s champ, Ry Eikleberry, and former riding champs Dean Butler, Jareth Loveberry and Leandro Goncalves. Eddie Martin Jr. will make his return to Shakopee after being away for several years. Returning members of what promises to be a deep riding colony include Orlando Mojica, Quincy Hamilton, Leslie Mawing, Israel Hernandez, Nik Goodwin and Lori Keith. Graded Stakes winning jockeys Donnie Meche, Constantino Roman David Lopez will make Shakopee his home for the summer as well.
Hometown favorite Alex Canchari, initially reported to be coming home for the summer, has opted to hang his tack at Prairie Meadows in Iowa this season.
Trainer Mac Robertson will return, looking for his third training title in a row (though last year was a dead heat with Robertino Diodoro). Robertson has captured eleven of the last thirteen training titles at Canterbury interrupted only in 2014 & 15 by Diodoro, who will also be back in Shakopee.
Robertson’s barn features blisteringly fast four-year-old filly, Amy’s Challenge, currently at Churchill Downs prepping for Saturday’s Grade 1 Humana Distaff on the Derby undercard. Kentucky bred, the filly is owned by Minnesota businessman Joseph Novogtaz.
The 2018 Canterbury Horse of the Year, Mr. Jagermeister, the Minnesota bred trained by Valorie Lund, will return to Shakopee for the summer. Mr. Jagermeister impressively won an optional allowance at last week at Oaklawn Park which carried a purse of $92,000 at odds of 9/2 and looks to be coming into the meet razor sharp.
Other fan favorite Minnesota breds working their way back to Shakopee include Hot Shot Kid, Pin Up Girl (featured in an opening night allowance), undefeated 3-year old Dame Plata (won an allowance at Will Rogers on April 23), Shakopee Juvenile winner Mister Banjoman and the all-time Canterbury Park money winner, A P is Loose. Dame Plata and Hot Shot Kid will square off in a competitive allowance in Saturday’s third race with Mister Banjoman making his seasonal bow in the fourth.
There has been some concern about field depth with the Oaklawn meet being extended this year through Derby weekend rather than its traditional mid-April closing. Trainers Robertson, Diodoro, Nevada Litfin and Bruce Rieken all run at Oaklawn and no longer have the three-week gap between meets to move barns and get settled in Minnesota.
In 2018 opening weekend featured 18 races and 150 horses while this season’s opening weekend races number 16 with 119 horses. Though the year over year decline is significant, it wasn’t completely unexpected and local owners and their trainers stepped up to fill the anticipated gap.
“We knew it would be difficult finding open horses to run, especially with Oaklawn running through Derby Day this year,” said Andrew Offerman, Senior Director of Racing. “We are always in a challenging position running this early in the year as many of the meets that supply our horses are just ending this weekend. This year was just a bit harder given Oaklawn’s change.”
Of the 16 races carded opening weekend, eleven are slated for Minnesota breds.
“I’m pleasantly surprised by the number of Minnesota-breds ready to run,” Offerman continued. “I very much appreciate the effort owners took to get their horses ready to race despite a tough Minnesota winter. I’m glad that they are doing their best to take advantage of the extended season. I anticipate a strong 2019 meet and look forward to seeing the entry box fill up better in the weeks to come.”
Patrons will notice several major changes to the physical plant at Canterbury this season. The south end of track level now features a grand entrance to the Card Casino and recently opened Trifecta Café which serves Italian, Asian, and American Comfort Food menus as well as personal pizzas baked in a stone oven. A coffee shop, named Morning Line Brew and serving premium Starbucks® coffees, will be open each racing day. On the second level of the grandstand is Pit Boss offering authentic Texas barbecue. Flooring on track level was removed to reveal a polished concrete finish.
Minnesota Festival of Champions, a day featuring the best racehorses bred in the state, will be held Sept. 1 and will offer a record $700,000 in purse money. The track’s signature races, Lady Canterbury and Mystic Lake Derby, as well as three other stakes, will be run again as part of the Saturday evening Northern Stars Racing Festival on June 22 with a special 5 PM post time.
Canterbury Park’s 66-day season will run through Sept. 14. Weeknight racing, including May 3, will begin at 6:00 p.m., 30-minutes earlier than past seasons. The Saturday, May 4, live program begins at 12:45 p.m. The Derby is scheduled to be run at 5:50 p.m. Advance wagering will be available beginning May 2.
The entire racing schedule can be found here: https://www.canterburypark.com/racing-promotions/2019-live-racing-season/
