22nd Annual Dog Days Handicapping Contest & more….

The 22nd annual Dog Days of Summer Handicapping Tournament takes place this Saturday and Sunday. The event dates back to the 90s before handicapping contests were as popular as they have become today.  Dog Days is perhaps the first, but most certainly the longest running, live bankroll contest in the country. In the early years, […]

Diodoro Chose Horses Over Hockey

BY JIM WELLS Robertino Diodoro departed for Saratoga on Sunday to survey his stable there for a few days, leaving the barn at Canterbury Park to his assistants and crew, an assembly he routinely applauds as the most vital element of the team. “Without them, none of this is possible,” he said. Diodoro rarely speaks […]

Patrick Mooney: From Walking Horses to Owning One

By Rebecca Roush Making the decision to purchase a racehorse doesn’t always come easy, but for Patrick Mooney it was a dream of his since he watched his first race from the winner’s circle at Canterbury Downs. At the age of sixteen Mooney would make the drive each day from Young America to the track […]

Zoes Sassy Miracle Fastest in NCQHRA Futurity Trials

Four trials were held today for 350-yard $45,000 North Central Quarter Horse Racing Association Futurity final that will be run August 11. Zoes Sassy Miracle was the fastest qualifier, covering the distance in 17.699 for trainer Mark Barnes. Leading Q trainer Jason Olmstead will saddle five of the 10 two-year-olds that qualified. Robert Johnson qualified […]

Racehorse Owner Randy Howg

By Rebecca Roush The sport of horse racing has been a longtime passion for owner Randy Howg. When he was just 10-years-old, he was giving his brothers and sisters horse names and having them race against each other. The full-time farmer is from Enchanta, Alberta, where he currently tends to his irrigation crop in the […]

Winning Young Set The Tone

BY JIM WELLS It is 1973; you are 13 years old and climb aboard a bus to take in the last day of racing at the local racetrack. You pocket 13 bucks for your efforts, a more enjoyable and much easier way to earn money than, say, snow shoveling or grass cutting. Hooked? “Well, I […]

Sunday News and Notes

Highlights After kicking off the 70-day live race meet at Canterbury Park on the weekend of the Kentucky Derby, it is only right that we take a look back on a successful start. -Canterbury is home to a very talented group of jockeys this season. Leading jockeys for this meet include: Ry Eikleberry with a […]

Turf Paradise Meet Begins Saturday; Canterbury Horses Prominent

Turf Paradise

Turf Paradise begins a 132-day meet Saturday with a nine race program where 93 horses have been entered, no fewer than 20 last raced at Canterbury Park. This will be the 62nd season at the Phoenix-area racetrack. Trainer Robertino Diodoro, who has won the trainer title the past four seasons, has 11 horses entered Saturday, […]

Racehorse Owner Profile: Todd Fitch

todd-fitch-6-10-17-cby

By Katie Merritt Owner Todd Fitch got his first taste of horse racing at Balmoral Park when he was about 10 years old. His dad would meet friends at the races and occasionally the young Fitch got to tag along. When he was 22, Todd moved to Phoenix, the place he still calls home, and […]

Robertino Diodoro active on opening weekend

Robertino Diodoro

Trainer Robertino Diodoro will again campaign a division at Canterbury Park but is also branching out. He discusses his plans for the summer as well as two runners in Saturday’s stakes races, D R C’s Pretty Sky and Storm Advisory. https://youtu.be/XXCnU8PiTY8