33rd Minnesota Festival of Champions Saturday at Canterbury Park; Six state-bred restricted stakes with purses totaling $380,000
Canterbury Park will host the 33nd running of the Minnesota Festival of Champions on Saturday. The Festival began in 1992 with purses dedicated to horses bred in the state and is the centerpiece of racing each season at the Shakopee, Minn. racetrack. The eight-race program begins at 5:10 p.m. CDT. Canterbury’s Pick 5, with an […]
MN Festival of Champions Week at Canterbury Park begins Thursday with Quarter Horse Stakes
Canterbury Park’s annual Minnesota Festival of Champions gets underway Thursday featuring a pair of quarter horse stakes and continues Saturday with six thoroughbred stakes. The Festival of Champions began in 1992, dedicating purse money exclusively to horses bred in the state. It has remained the centerpiece of the meet each season. Thursday’s eight race program […]
Canterbury Park announces 2026 Thoroughbred Stakes Schedule
Northern Stars Turf Festival slated for June 27 Canterbury Park racing officials announced the 2026 thoroughbred stakes schedule for its 51-day race meet that runs May 23 through Sept. 19. The schedule includes 23 stakes and named allowances totaling $1.1 million in purses. The 33rd Minnesota Festival of Champions, an evening of racing dedicated to […]
Top Jockey Harry Hernandez wins four on MN Festival of Champions Night
Favorites win 7 of 11 races in 32nd rendition of state-bred celebration Canterbury Park’s leading jockey Harry Hernandez won four of the six thoroughbred stakes races on Saturday’s Minnesota Festival of Champions program. The evening of racing, in its 32nd rendition, featured horses bred in the state. “There’s nothing better than being in the job […]
How Bout That Curt represents Sampson racing legacy in Saturday’s Minnesota Festival of Champions
2-year-old is even money favorite in $75,000 Northern Lights Futurity When Curtis Sampson passed away in 2020, he left behind a horse racing legacy that will be remembered Saturday in the 32nd Minnesota Festival of Champions at Canterbury Park. That there is racing in Minnesota at all is a testament to that legacy. Sampson, along […]
Fields set for Saturday’s MN Festival of Champions at Canterbury Park
Nine stakes races share spotlight on 11-race card Post positions were drawn yesterday for the 32nd running of the Minnesota Festival of Champions on Sept. 6, a centerpiece day of racing for Canterbury Park featuring the best state bred thoroughbreds and quarter horses. The 11-race card includes nine stakes races, six for thoroughbreds and three […]
Purse increases for Blair’s Cove Turf, Bella Notte Sprint
MN Festival of Champions races will be run as stakes with $50,000 purses. Canterbury Park racing officials announced today that, in cooperation with the Minnesota HBPA, the purses for the Blair’s Cove Minnesota Turf and the Bella Notte Minnesota Distaff Sprint will be increased to $50,000 and will be conducted as stakes Sept. 6 as […]
Minnesota Festival of Champions produces longshot winners
Jockey Alonso Quinonez wins three stakes Saturday’s 31st running of the Minnesota Festival of Champions, an eight-race program restricted to racehorses bred in the state, produced numerous longshot winners with Able Seaman winning the $75,000 Northern Lights Futurity at 22 to 1 odds and Where’s Marilyn winning the $75,000 Northern Lights Debutante at 17 to […]
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 […]
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 […]