The Other Minnesota Get-Together
By Noah Joseph While much of the state is swept up in the excitement of the Minnesota State Fair, horse racing will have a different kind of get-together. This Sunday is the 25th Minnesota Festival of Champions at Canterbury Park, a day when all races are restricted to Minnesota bred horses including eight stakes races, […]
Canterbury Hosts 25th Minnesota Festival of Champions Sunday
Stakes purses boosted for state-bred best; Mr. Jagermeister 1 to 5 favorite in Classic Shakopee, Minn. — The 25th annual Minnesota Festival of Champions, a day restricted to racehorses bred in the state, will be held Sunday at Canterbury Park, offering the most purse money in event history. The purse for each of the eight […]
STATE STARS SHINE ON FESTIVAL DAY
BY JIM WELLS Steamy, muggy, humid. Or as mother used to say, “close.” Under those conditions, Canterbury Park conducted the 24th running of the Festival of Champions Sunday, an afternoon of racing restricted to Minnesota-bred horses and highlighted by a sensational two-year-old, a pair of full brothers who won the two quarter horse races, the […]
FESTIVAL BRINGS OUT THE BEST OF MINNESOTA
BY JIM WELLS The Festival of Champions abounds with stories of heartbreak and elation and more will be added to the growing canon of tales about Minnesota-bred horses, their owners, trainers and riders, with the 24th staging of the event on Sunday. Only in horse racing do the stars align as they sometimes do to […]
HILGERS, STEVENS HOOK UP ONE LAST TIME
BY JIM WELLS What does a Hall of Fame breeder do when he wants the best available to ride his horse? He calls a Hall of Fame rider. Jeff Hilger picked up his phone a couple of weeks ago and contacted Scott Stevens, hoping the veteran rider was available for Sunday’s Festival of Champions. Hilger, […]
Canterbury Hosts 24th Minnesota Festival of Champions Sunday
The annual Minnesota Festival of Champions, a day restricted to the best racehorses bred in the state, will be held for the 24th time Sunday at Canterbury Park. The first of 11 races is scheduled to begin at 12:45 p.m.at the Shakopee, Minn. racetrack. A total of 94 horses have been entered to compete for […]
Racehorse Owner: Curt Sampson
By Katie Merritt Curtis Sampson was born and raised in Hector, Minnesota and has been attending the races at Canterbury since it first opened as Canterbury Downs. In 1994, after the track had been closed for two years, Sampson, his son Randy and Dale Schenian purchased the facility and brought live racing back to Shakopee […]
CHAMPIONS CROWNED ON FESTIVAL DAY
Fireman Oscar BY JIM WELLS Sunny skies, cool breezes and a surprise or two provided the perfect conditions for the annual Minnesota Festival of Champions, a card designed exclusively for Minnesota-bred horses Sunday. The card included a bit of everything, including what might not have been a race for the ages, but […]
Sunday's Festival of Champions Evokes Memories of 1992.
BY JIM WELLS Turn back the pages of your calendar, day by day, week by week, month by month until you come to a gorgeous autumn afternoon in 1992. There it is, right there, September 12. Okay, now, pause right here. The sun is shining, a television crew is at Canterbury Downs. A crowd is […]
STEVENS RIGHT AT HOME IN SHAKOPEE
BY JIM WELLS The old saw that there’s no place like home might have an entirely different meaning to Scott Stevens. Particularly after the Idaho Cup races at Sandy Downs this summer. Stevens won all three of the races in which he had mounts, something he can certainly recall with pleasure, if not the conditions […]
