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 […]
Jockey Race Tight Early
Lori Keith bounded out of the tunnel leading to the paddock Sunday afternoon and right past the No. 1 spot for her horse, Oughterson. “Hey, Lori, over here,” someone called. “I was distracted. He distracted me,” Keith said, pointing to a nearby interloper while gathering her wits. Keith is as focused as she’s ever been this spring, […]
Cannonball Blows ‘Em Away
There was John Bullit, a horse enshrined in Canterbury Park’s Hall of Fame. There is the silver bullet, a shell capable of repelling a serious vampire threat, and there is the Human Bullet, aka David Smith, Jr., who soared 165 feet through the mist and premature gloaming Monday afternoon and into a net 20 feet […]
Biehler Nears Milestone
Mike Biehler left Fairmont for Shakopee in 1985, the year Canterbury Downs opened, and quickly landed a job at the Malkerson farm nearby. He had worked with show horses as a young man and also studied animal science at Waseca Community College. Biehler wrestled at 126 pounds in high school and then Waseca CC. He […]
Opening Night Elicits Excitement
The planets are back in the proper orbits, circling the heavens in their celestial splendor. The stock market will take off like a rocket in the coming days. Peace has come to this little corner of the world. Just like that, horse racing is back on the Minnesota sports and entertainment calendar. Under gray, wet, […]
Canterbury Inside the Numbers
Live racing at Canterbury Park starts Friday, May 17. Optimism is high for the 2013 season with full barns on the backside and a higher purse structure in place. This should be a good formula for larger fields and more competitive racing, which equals better opportunities for large payoffs! Let’s look back at the 2012 […]
Patriate Claims the Crown
Bob Johnson left no doubt about his thoughts on the Claiming Series Thursday night as he considered it in the paddock minutes before post time for the championship race. “I like this,” he said. “I like it a lot. I hope they have a lot more of them.” Rival trainer Mike Biehler could understand the […]
Canterbury Trends & Statistics
The hot, humid summer continues and the Canterbury main track has consistently favored pure front-runners all year. The track bias for the last month shows dirt sprints and routes yielding wire-to-wire winners at a 45% clip, which is about double the national average. Even turf races are yielding 25% front running winners, which is about […]
The 2012 Race Meet: First Half Review
It’s hard to believe but we’re nearly one half of the way through the meet (tomorrow will mark the 30th day of racing of a meet which will now consist of 61 racing days). So far this summer, speed and favorites have done quite well. Here’s an overview: The Track Bias Early speed continues to […]
Patriate Does it Again!
The Colt & Gelding Division of Canterbury’s 2012 Claiming Series continued last night with the second of three qualifying races. Patriate and jockey Patricia Trimble didn’t figure to get as easy of a lead this time around but it turns out they had little trouble jumping on the field and putting them away taking them […]
