By Rebecca Roush
Dan Kjorsvik of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, began running horses at Canterbury Park in 2001. He grew up on a small farm in Michigan, North Dakota. Kjorsvik later stumbled into the horseracing industry with some “bad luck,” he jokingly said. His roommate at the time was associated with Canterbury Park and brought him to the track where he met horse trainers Jamie Ness and Ness’s father, John Ness. After becoming familiar with how horse racing works, Kjorsvik purchased his first horse with Ness and his father.
Kjorsvik’s passion for horse racing has since progressed into something much larger. Today, he is a multi-stakes winning owner and currently runs horses at various tracks throughout the country. He says his favorite part about racing is the atmosphere at the track and the people he gets to be around. “I’ve made a lot of life-long friends over the years here and I love coming back,” Kjorsvik said. “The horse racing community is very unique, because everyone just gets it.”
The owner’s favorite racing memory goes back to his first win in 2001 where he ran Dimateo’s Defiance with Ness. “That was the first win I ever had with a racehorse and it was one of the last weekends of the meet at Canterbury,” he said.
Kjorsvik currently has four horses racing at Canterbury, including his first Quarter Horse named Holy Storm. When looking for a horse to purchase, Kjorsvik factors in the specifics of each track. “Looking into the conditions of each track and race is something that is very important before buying a horse, because it shows whether or not the horse is able to run often enough,” he said. He added that when preparing to buy your first horse, “it can be wise to start small and purchase just a percentage at first.”
From the beginning Kjorsvik has always been a dedicated racing fan and owner. In fact, when he is not at the racetrack he says you can find him simulcast betting or traveling to other racetracks. He also enjoys going home to hunt and golf.
