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 […]
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 […]
Can Midnight Current repeat in Princess Elaine Stakes?
Saturday’s $75,000 Princess Elaine features the best Minnesota bred turf fillies and mares in training. Thunders Rocknroll wired the field in the Minnesota Oaks racing on dirt but also sprinted to a turf win. She is all speed. Midnight Current is classy. She won the race last year and was voted Horse of the Meet. […]
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 […]
Mo Mesa gets added ground in $100,000 Northern Lights Futurity
Mo Mesa ran evenly in his Aug. 26 debut, finishing third. Trainer Matt Williams expects an improvement Saturday in the $100,000 Northern Lights Futurity. Mo Mesa is a half brother to last year’s Debutante winner Lover Girl, also trained by Williams, and is owned and was bred by Gary and Brenda Bergsrud whose silks are […]
Festival of Champions at Canterbury Park will crown best Minnesota breds
-$855,000 in purses to be distributed in 12-race card- Entries for the 29th Minnesota Festival of Champions, a night of racing on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Canterbury Park restricted to thoroughbreds and quarter horses bred in the state, attracted a total of 107 horses for 12 races. Owners, jockeys and trainers of those entrants will […]
Love the Nest Impressive in $100k Northern Lights Futurity
Jockey Eikleberry wins twice on MN Festival of Champions Night Love the Nest, a 2-year-old colt trained by Joel Berndt and owned by Robert Lothenbach, powered to an impressive 7 1/4 length victory in Wednesday’s Northern Lights Futurity, one of six $100,000 statebred thoroughbred stakes on Minnesota Festival of Champions Night at Canterbury Park. Love […]
The Important Origin of The Festival
Wednesday is the 28th Minnesota Festival of Champions, a night we celebrate the best of the statebred racehorses. Hall of Fame newspaper reporter Jim Wells died in 2019, but his stories remain for us to enjoy. Here is a recounting written by Jim many years ago, detailing the 1992 origins of the Festival. by Jim […]
