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 […]
Indian Horse Relay Racing Returns
BY JIM WELLS Indian Relay Racing is one of the absolute highlights of summer racing in Shakopee, a spectacle of bare-back riding equal to anything Barnum and Bailey ever offered the curious public. Not even those circus maestros had anything on the many indigenous peoples of the American West when it comes to entertainment. Watch […]
Now Playing: A Canterbury Classic
By Noah Joseph Over the years, Canterbury has had some powerful Minnesota bred horses, especially during the early 2000s. Horses like Crocrock, Bleu Victoriate, Nidari, and J.P Jet were winning everything in sight. While those names come up in conversation frequently in local racing circles, one name is often forgotten. That horse is Now Playing. […]
$200,000 Mystic Lake Derby, Canterbury’s Richest Race, Saturday
Northern Stars Racing Festival features five stakes with $500,000 in purses The $200,000 Mystic Lake Derby, the richest horse race of Canterbury Park’s 66-day season, attracted eight three-year-olds for the one mile turf race led by 3 to 1 morning line favorite Dunph. The Mystic Lake Derby will be the seventh race on an 11-race […]
One Step at a Time
James ODonnell was destined to be in the racing industry. From spending his teenage years as a groom to working with horses all across the East Coast, he knew his future would include horse racing. After some time off, ODonnell secured his spot in the industry. In July 2018, he claimed his prized possession, Mesa […]
Running of the Bulldogs
What does the perfect day consist of? To many, the answer to that question involves Canterbury Park, beautiful weather and bulldog races. The annual Running of the Bulldogs was held on May 26 with 16,064 visitors. The day consisted of 72 bulldogs and six heats. The winner of each heat will be invited back on […]
Candy, Hops, Chrome and Wood
The preps I focus on this week are somewhat similar to the two we saw last Saturday – Not a ton of names in the Wood are topping derby lists at this point (like the Louisiana Derby), whereas many #1 prospects are going to attempt to top each other in the Santa Anita Derby (like […]