31st Minnesota Festival of Champions Saturday at Canterbury Park
Richest race day of the season dedicated to horses bred in state Saturday marks the 31st running of the Minnesota Festival of Champions at Canterbury Park. The first took place in 1992 at what was then Canterbury Downs as an affirmation by horse owners, breeders and trainers that the racetrack had a future in the […]
Saturday’s Hall of Fame Night at Canterbury Park Features Five Handicaps
Midnight Current defends MN Turf Distaff title Top state bred 3-years-prep for Derby and Oaks Hall of Fame Night Showcases Minnesota’s Best Thoroughbreds Saturday’s Hall of Fame Night at Canterbury Park includes turf races for accomplished older thoroughbreds as well as main track sprints for 3-year-olds whose connections hope they make a name for themselves […]
Harry Hernandez Wins Five Races on Festival of Champions Night
Midnight Current defends Princess Elaine title; Xtreme Diva fastest 2-year-old Canterbury Park’s leading jockey Harry Hernandez won five of the 10 races Saturday on the Minnesota Festival of Champions program including three of the evening’s six stakes. His first stakes victory came in the $75,000 Blair’s Cove Minnesota Turf Championship taking Jose Patio gate to […]
Berndt 2-Year-Olds Favored in Northern Lights Futurity; Debutante entrant will be long shot
Joel Berndt, pictured above, won four Minnesota Festival of Champions races in 2022 and has won the Northern Lights Futurity three consecutive years. He trains the two morning line favorites in this year’s Futurity: Jonny B Goney at 5/2 and Frosty View at 3-1. Joel’s daughter and assistant trainer Kelsey visits with Betty Jo Goodwin […]
30th Minnesota Festival of Champions Saturday at Canterbury Park
$500,000 in stakes purses paid to horses foaled in state Canterbury Park will celebrate the Minnesota breeding and horse racing industry on Saturday with the 30th rendition of the Minnesota Festival of Champions, a 10-race program restricted to horses bred in Minnesota. Six of the races are stakes with purses totaling $500,000. In all, 76 […]
Berndt Racing Stable Derby Contenders
Kelsey Berndt, assistant trainer to father Joel Berndt, talks with betty Jo Goodwin about It’s Bobs Business and Rejection Hurts, their entrants in Saturday’s $100,000 Minnesota Derby. Kelsey also discusses her father’s success and what her future in racing might be.
Trainer Joel Berndt wins 1,000th career race
Canterbury Park leading trainer reaches milestone with Thursday night victory Thoroughbred trainer Joel Berndt won his 1,000th career race Thursday night when Modern Science won the sixth race at Canterbury Park. Berndt has won two training titles and is currently the leading trainer at the Shakopee, Minn. racetrack. Modern Science was ridden by Lindey Wade […]
Trainer Joel Berndt nears milestone
A visitor to the Joel Berndt barn Saturday morning approached the leading trainer as chores were wrapping up with an observation that all the employees seemed quite happy. “It’s payday,” Berndt quipped as he made the rounds distributing paychecks. But the happiness is not an aberration constrained to that moment in time. “I have a […]
2023 Canterbury Park Live Meet Preview – – By The Numbers
by The Oracle Opening day of the 2023 Canterbury Park live racing meet is Saturday, May 27! That means it’s time to look back at the 2022 Canterbury Park live meet from a statistical standpoint and use that data to help us better predict the outcomes of the 2023 Canterbury Park races. Canterbury Park […]
Odds and Ends from Festival and Final Three Race Days To Come
The 12-race Minnesota Festival of Champions card on Saturday night attracted $2,446,940 in handle, a record for the Festival which has been conducted 29 times. The previous Festival handle record was the 2020 total of $2,048,915. Saturday’s handle is the fourth largest of the 2022 season. Owner/breeder Bob Lothenbach took center stage throughout the evening […]
