A Little Shipping Money
Nothing signals the end of the summer any more definitively than the final days of the Minnesota State Fair and the sight of school buses not seen for the previous three months. Minnesotans are prepared for both eventualities in the coming days and will adjust their calendars and daily schedules accordingly. There is a different […]
Canchari Wins 5
Jockey races are often of more interest to the people who keep statistics and record the data on such things at racetracks. Riders, for their part, are more interested in staying healthy and collecting a healthy paycheck. But not entirely… The competitive side of any rider is apt to show when a title is on […]
Races Heat Up
Thursday’s card was the 51st of the meet. So, let’s see now, that means there are 18 racing days remaining in this, the 19th meeting since racing resumed in Shakopee after a two-year-shutdown, under the name Canterbury Park instead of Downs. Naturally, the focus on the leading rider, trainer and owner will draw increased scrutiny […]
Badge of Glory Captures Rare Triple, Lil’ Apollo Wins Derby
There was an answer to the most asked question among the daily players, breeders, owners, trainers and anyone else with an interest in the race. YES. EASILY. The question, of course, concerned Badge of Glory, the most accomplished horse in the $75,000 Minnesota Oaks on Saturday. Could she stretch her talent to a mile and […]
Mystic Lake Derby Day Nears
Go ahead and pick up the champagne, dig out the attire you wore last year for the race, careful to assure everything is the same, not a single accoutrement out-of-place, cross your fingers and don’t say anything that might be construed as a jinx. “My dad’s superstitious,” said Lori Keith. “It will have to be […]
2013 Derby Day Nears
Occasionally she’ll think about the race and the biggest win of her career, the stuff of warm feelings and pleasant thoughts, except for that interminable wait. “It was intense, wasn’t it though,” says Lori Keith. The subject at hand, of course, is the inaugural Mystic Lake Derby first held in 2012 and Keith’s controversial win […]
MTA Stakes Cap Weekend
A horse with a bad foot and another with a good turn of foot grabbed the headlines on an otherwise leisurely Sunday afternoon One day after a record turnout of 20,000-plus crammed the nooks and crannies of the place, Canterbury Park took on a relaxed and casual demeanor, but there were three winners on this […]
Paychecks Being Decided by Inches… and Photos
It’s a game of inches (and photo finishes) this summer for the riders in Shakopee where increased purses have expanded the jockey colony and spread out available horses. Sunday, for instance, there was a different rider in the winner’s circle after each race. Competition is the name of the game, for mounts of any kind […]
Lessons Learned…
The adjectives are endless for sizing up the race meet at Canterbury Park this spring/summer/fall/winter. The biggest question has been how to accurately characterize this strangest of seasons. “I can’t remember a meet with weather this crappy ever, anyplace I’ve been,” said jockey room custodian Jerry Simmons. That covers a bit of ground. Simmons has […]
14,455 Enjoy Father’s Day Card
There is nothing like horse racing for destroying a person’s spirit one instant and then restoring it a few minutes later. These are the vicissitudes of a sport that can present more ups and downs, more highs and lows, than the Wild thing at Valley Fair. You can be a dejected loser one moment and an […]