By Noah Joseph
It’s hard to believe that only two years ago, American Pharoah captured the heart of the racing world ending a 37 year drought to win the Triple Crown. It was a time of great joy for all involved, whether it was a person in the racing business or just a typical fan. However, Canterbury wanted to bring even more joy with an offer like none other.
Only a few days after American Pharoah won the Triple Crown, Canterbury came up with an idea to bring him to race here. The idea was to move the featured race of the meet, the Mystic Lake Derby, from the turf to the dirt, move it from Saturday to Sunday, and raise the purse from $200,000 to $2,000,000. An offer like that could have attracted any horse, but Canterbury wanted the Triple Crown winner.
Sadly, Team Pharoah turned down the offer about a month later, leaving Minnesota racing fans and Canterbury disappointed, but at the same time optimistic. It left them with the feeling that even though they didn’t get a superstar horse now, perhaps one day they would, and it will be worth the wait.
Noah Joseph is a longtime Canterbury Park and horse racing fan. He’s been attending races at Canterbury since 2000 when he was 3 years old and has enjoyed every minute of it. Noah provides a weekly piece on CanterburyLive.com.
