A HORSE, A HORSE, OUR KINGDOM FOR….
By Jim Wells At long last, the racing season is upon us, two weeks earlier than usual, two and half hours earlier than ordinary, and yet surely not early enough for anyone who has spent the last few months huddled indoors, handicapping races via simulcast from tracks hither and yon. Opening day’s 4 p.m. start […]
RIDING TITLE COMES DOWN TO FINAL RACE
BY JIM WELLS There were trailers backed up to certain stables on the backside at Canterbury Park Saturday morning, some of them awaiting their equine passengers, others simply being loaded with a variety of tack needed by a particular trainer for the next destination. Throughout the last several days, a horseman could be found here […]
FROM OUTHOUSE TO THE PENTHOUSE (in a manner of speaking)
BY JIM WELLS The Hard Luck Boys, The Can’t Get a Break Bunch or, maybe, Is This Really Happening Stable…any of those nicknames might have fit perfectly the last couple of years. “You got that right,” said Paul Strangis, a member of the ill-fated partnership without a name. This year, there are seven involved instead […]
CANTERBURY'S TOP TRAINER FINDS HIS SUMMER HOME
By Jim Wells Trainer Roberto Diodoro has moved into his recently purchased Minnesota home, located within a stone’s throw of Canterbury Park. He is close enough in his new digs to see the grandstand and its triple spires (one more than Churchill Downs) extending into the Shakopee firmament, and from there he presumably can keep […]
Stable Area Now Open – Horses Arrive
The Canterbury Park barn area officially opened for business Thursday. The first van, arriving from Phoenix with a load of thoroughbreds from the barn of 2014 and 2015 leading trainer Robertino Diodoro, pulled through the stable gate that evening. Van drivers will keep busy hauling horses to fill the 65 stalls that Diodoro has been […]
Road to Kentucky Contest Week 10 Recap – CUPID
“When Baffert ships there (Oaklawn Park), he’s doing one of two things. He’s going there with live horses, and he’s also exposing the competition.” – Mike Watchmaker from Daily Racing Form after selecting Cupid to win the Rebel Stakes. The contest track for Road to Kentucky Week 10 was Oaklawn Park for the featured Rebel […]
DIODORO TURNS THE HEAT UP
BY JIM WELLS Trainer Robertino Diodoro and Kristina Kenney were watching the sixth race Friday night when she turned to him with a comment. “If we win this one it will be all due to Ry,” she said. Diodoro’s assistant was certain it would require a solid ride from Eikleberry to take Traweek, a […]
Robertino Diodoro
By Kristin Bechthold Robertino Diodoro is Canterbury Park’s leading trainer for 2014 with 221 starts and 50 wins, giving him a total of $827,564 in earnings. He currently has 62 horses at Canterbury Park for the 2015 race season. Diodoro’s most promising horses for this season include Broadway Empire, Stormation, Tappin Vegas, and Space Mine. […]
IT’S TIME TO SADDLE UP
IT’S TIME TO SADDLE UP By JIM WELLS The morning scene is no different than last year, the year before that or, for that matter, even in 1985, when Minnesota’s first pari-mutuel horseracing facility joined the state’s sporting scene. The diurnal rhythms of barn life continue, one generation to the next. Stablehands unload their wheelbarrows […]
Looking Back to Plan Ahead
By The Oracle Understanding statistics in horse racing is a valuable tool in the handicapping process. Having knowledge of historical results can add perspective and insight as we watch the current year’s races play out. Using prior year’s statistics, we can identify certain trends that we would like to take advantage of in 2015, and […]
