Horsemen interested in racing at Canterbury Park are reminded that stall applications for the 2017 race meet are due in less than one week, March 13 to be precise. The 67-day meet begins Friday, May 5 with the stable area opening for training mid-April.
Canterbury racing officials have introduced two programs to assist trainers with shipping and reward those that arrive ready to race.
Program #1: Shipping Loan Program
Canterbury Park will offer up to a total of $300,000 in shipping loans for qualified applicants who arrive prior to the start of the 2017 live racing season. Shipping loan applications will be due with stall applications and will be reviewed by the stall allocation committee. Upon review, the committee will authorize up to $30,000 per owner to cover the costs of horse transportation to Canterbury Park. The loan will be recouped by Canterbury Park through the owner’s purse earnings via a loan agreement between the owner(s) and Canterbury Park. The loan application is available here.
Filling fields in the early stages of the Canterbury meet is a priority and often a challenge. To encourage trainers and owners to have horses ready to run when the track begins racing May 5, a starter incentive program is being offered.
Program #2: $100,000 New Starter Incentive Program
Canterbury Park’s new starter incentive program, run in partnership with the Minnesota H.B.P.A., is designed to reward owners who bring a new, race-ready thoroughbred to Canterbury Park in 2017. Any thoroughbred making its first start at Canterbury Park shall be eligible for a bonus paid in its initial start according to the following schedule:
Initial start at Canterbury Park prior to May 31, 2017: $500
Initial start at Canterbury Park after June 1, 2017: $250
In order to be eligible for this program, the thoroughbred must fit the following criteria:
The horse must have made its most recent start after January 1, 2017.
If its last start was in a claiming race, the horse must have started for a claiming price of $3,000 or greater.
First-time starters are not eligible for the Canterbury 2017 New Starter Incentive Program.
In order to be eligible for Canterbury’s 2017 New Starter Incentive Program, the trainer of the horse must have stalls assigned at Canterbury Park.
Shipping incentives from this program will be paid until the exhaustion of the $100,000. The Canterbury Park Racing Office will produce records each week so that owners and trainers can fully understand the current expenditures from this fund and estimate the amount remaining available for awards. The award will be for each qualifying horse’s initial start at Canterbury only.
Canterbury Park’s first condition and stakes book in online.
More information about the 67-day race meet as well as racing department contacts can be found here.
