Boys To Men
By Noah Joseph Last Sunday, Mr. Jagermeister put together another dominating performance. He won the Crocrock Minnesota Sprint Championship to gain a third straight stakes victory on Festival of Champions Day. And while many people think Mr. Jagermeister may be the best horse to ever come from Canterbury Park, at one time it could have […]
Beginner’s Luck
By Mari Ballinger Despite their name, Beginner’s Luck Racing, they are far from rookies in the racing industry. Derek Drews, John Zobel, John Means, Drew Semenra, Dave Shannon, Joe Scurto, and Jeff Metz all have one thing in common: a love for horses and spending time at the racetrack. For 25-year-old Drews, his interest in […]
Festival A Family Affair
By Jim Wells The Festival of Champions has a family air about it, and always has. After all, it is about Minnesota horses, the farms they represent and the people who breed, own and train them. In many respects is has become the perfect sidekick to the Minnesota State Fair. The 26th running of the […]
Festival A Memory Maker
BY JIM WELLS Songs and poetry have used the term ad nauseum, sometimes incorporating it into titles or lyrics: “Memories” are made of this, a trip down “memory” lane. It might be put to better use in the identification of the annual celebration of Minnesota horses. How about this: Festival of Champions, a Memory Maker. […]
Minnesota Festival of Champions
The 26th Minnesota Festival of Champions takes place tomorrow at Canterbury Park. The special event debuted in 1992 to pay tribute to the Minnesota horse breeding industry, and acts as the unofficial celebration of the Canterbury Park live racing season. “Festival day is like the Championship game of the season,” said trainer Bernell Rhone, winner […]
Butzows Have Been In For The Long Run
We’ve heard this one before: A guy buys a horse with friends. It wins easily. First time out. He ventures into new parternerships. Those horses win maiden starts, too. Notions take over: Horse racing is a piece of cake. A walk in the park. Like printing money. The hook is set. Reality will set in […]
Bell Still the Leading Festival Rider
By Jim Wells Nobody has ridden more Festival of Champions winners than Derek Bell, the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame rider who has been to the winner’s circle 24 times on this annual day of tribute to Minnesota horses. That total is six more than Dean Butler and 13 in front of Scott Stevens. Bell […]
Bravo Worked His Way Up, Tirelessly
He was three days past his eighteenth birthday, having grown up in a country bordered on one side by a great ocean, on the other by the longest mountain range in the world, a country filled with diverse landscape and ecosystems. Yet, here he was, in the lush farmland of western Wisconsin, in a small […]
Minnesota Festival of Champions Sunday at Canterbury Park
Eight stakes races to offer total purse record for 26th running of “State Tournament of Horse Racing” Each of the six thoroughbred stakes races on Sunday’s Minnesota Festival of Champions program will offer $100,000 in purse money, a record for the event, on a day restricted to racehorses bred in the state. Two quarter horse […]
Strangis Racing’s Man For All Seasons
Ralph Strangis generally operated behind the scenes, as an attorney, businessman, racing commissioner, horse owner or fan, yet when he died last August he left a mark on just about any enterprise he had undertaken. He was valued and respected for his expertise in a variety of endeavors, and it became apparent upon his death […]