SHAKOPEE, MN – A week after Canterbury Park announced a record slate of Thoroughbred Stakes, the Shakopee oval unveiled a record breaking stakes schedule for the Quarter Horse meet in 2016.
“Canterbury Park is proud to offer the richest quarter horse stakes schedule in track history,” Vice President of Racing Operations Eric Halstrom said. “The Mystic Lake Northlands Futurity will continue to be a premier race in the Midwest, and the addition of the $65,000 Bank of America Canterbury Park Challenge Championship and the Merial Distaff Championship ensures that many of the best quarter horses in the country will travel to Shakopee this summer in an attempt to qualify for the 2016 Challenge Championships.”
The entire Quarter Horse stakes schedule for the 13 races will offer approximately $600,000 in purse money.
The Bank of America Challenge Series will culminate in the Challenge Championship on October 29 at Los Alamitos Race Course. Regional races held around the world give horses qualifying berths to the Challenge Championships, which offers more than $1 million in purse and prizes on a single night.
Both Challenge Championship races are new to the stakes schedule; however Canterbury has a longstanding relationship with the Challenge series, having hosted races since 1995.