Mary Green – 2021 Canterbury Park Hall of Fame
If there was a job to be done in the early days of Minnesota horse racing, you could count on Mary Green to do it. As one of the horsewomen and men who so badly wanted to bring a racetrack to their home state, Green attended meetings, met with legislators and lobbied for the state […]
Steve and Dorothy Erban – 2021 Canterbury Park hall of Fame
Horse racing has brought Steve Erban many rewards since 1972, when he promoted two weekends of racing at the Anoka County Fairgrounds in his first foray into the industry. The greatest came 34 years ago in Hot Springs, Ark., when he was a horse trainer new to town. His friend Terry Wallace, race caller at […]
Mac Robertson Wins Two Stakes on Hall of Fame Night
Ready to Runaway wins MN Distaff; Cinco Star best in Strangis Stakes The Ralph Strangis Stakes has been run five times at Canterbury Park and trainer Mac Robertson has won all five renditions. On Wednesday, Cinco Star strode through the mud to win the $50,000 race, run at one mile on the main track after […]
Honey’s Sox Appeal – 2021 Canterbury Park Hall of Fame
The first time her owner Bob Lindgren met her, Honey’s Sox Appeal showed how elusive she could be. “She was running all over the place,” Lindgren said. “She wouldn’t let me catch her.” Fitting, as the Minnesota-bred mare spent her race career not letting other horses catch her at the finish line. She won 11 […]
A P Is Loose – 2021 Canterbury Park Hall of Fame
Joel Zamzow didn’t even need to see the race. All he had to do was listen to Canterbury Park announcer Paul Allen to know when his horse, A P Is Loose, was about to win. “I’d just listen for Paul’s call of ‘A P Is Loose!’ in the last 50 yards,” Zamzow said. “I think […]
Canterbury Park Hall of Fame Class of 2021 Announced
Inductees to be honored in July 17 ceremony The newest members of the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame were announced today. The Class of 2021 includes A P Is Loose and Honey’s Sox Appeal, thoroughbreds that are among the all-time leaders in purse earnings in the history of the Shakopee, Minn. racetrack, as well as […]
Butzows Have Been In For The Long Run
We’ve heard this one before: A guy buys a horse with friends. It wins easily. First time out. He ventures into new parternerships. Those horses win maiden starts, too. Notions take over: Horse racing is a piece of cake. A walk in the park. Like printing money. The hook is set. Reality will set in […]
Bell Still the Leading Festival Rider
By Jim Wells Nobody has ridden more Festival of Champions winners than Derek Bell, the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame rider who has been to the winner’s circle 24 times on this annual day of tribute to Minnesota horses. That total is six more than Dean Butler and 13 in front of Scott Stevens. Bell […]
Bravo Worked His Way Up, Tirelessly
He was three days past his eighteenth birthday, having grown up in a country bordered on one side by a great ocean, on the other by the longest mountain range in the world, a country filled with diverse landscape and ecosystems. Yet, here he was, in the lush farmland of western Wisconsin, in a small […]
Strangis Racing’s Man For All Seasons
Ralph Strangis generally operated behind the scenes, as an attorney, businessman, racing commissioner, horse owner or fan, yet when he died last August he left a mark on just about any enterprise he had undertaken. He was valued and respected for his expertise in a variety of endeavors, and it became apparent upon his death […]
