Jockey Race Tight Early
Lori Keith bounded out of the tunnel leading to the paddock Sunday afternoon and right past the No. 1 spot for her horse, Oughterson. “Hey, Lori, over here,” someone called. “I was distracted. He distracted me,” Keith said, pointing to a nearby interloper while gathering her wits. Keith is as focused as she’s ever been this spring, […]
Record Crowd of 17,053 Enjoys 2012 Festival
The Festival of Champions began 20 years ago as a rebuke to track management at the time, as a demonstration by horsemen that the Ladbroke Corp.’s marketing strategies and ideas about live racing were wrong. They’ve been proving that nearly every year of live racing since, often most notably on Festival day, but never quite […]
Festival of Champions 2012: Sunny Days Ahead
It’s been twenty years since an unforgettable dark cloud hung over Canterbury Downs, a black funnel positioned to wipe out an entire industry and its primary place of business as well. Despite the hovering threat and very long odds of survival, horsemen saw a ray of hope. Nearly everyone expected a shutdown of this still […]
Canterbury Jockeys Make Plans
Some of the trailers are lined up like sentries on the backside, ready to receive their cargo when the meet officially closes on Monday. They have been swept out and lined with fresh straw in anticipation of the awaiting trip, to farms where their cargo will be turned out or to other racetracks where they […]
16,071 Witness Extreme Race Day! (W/Video)
Extreme day had something for everyone on Saturday, and everyone totaled 16,071 patrons on hand to watch Red Hot Zoomer win one of the shortest races in track history, Wild Jacob repeat as John Bullit champion, the mayor of Shakopee win another race, this time on a camel, and a one-eyed horse steal the HBPA […]
John Bullit – The Fan Favorite
There are different memories and various recollections from people who knew Canterbury Hall of Fame horse John Bullit. Jeremy Trulock, John’s final owner, sized it up on the small wooden cross that has marked the gelding’s final resting place at the family farm since Oct. 22 1999 – “My best friend, never forgotten.” “That was the […]
Turf Chute Making a Return
It’s a minor detail to some, a big improvement to others, long overdue to a few and about to happen in any event. The subject at hand is the return of the chute on the grass course, abandoned sometime in the late 1990s primarily – according to Canterbury lore – because a number of riders objected […]
Over 11,000 Enjoy July 3rd Stakes
While human beings melted under the oppressive conditions while merely lifting a cold drink to their lips, horses named Tubby Time, Rare Sunset and Hollywood Trickster refused to wilt under any conditions Tuesday. Tubby Time (pictured above) won the $50,000 Blair’s Cove Stakes for the second consecutive year, and Rare Sunset used her extra gear […]
Scott Stevens – The Iron Man
Early March in Phoenix was more like late April some years. A number of desert plants were already close to blooming, but nowhere was life any more vibrant on this particular morning than the stable area at Turf Paradise. A visitor was getting a tour of the barn area from jockey Scott Stevens when the […]
Beating the Heat
Shortly before the fourth race on Friday, someone draped a wet blanket over Shakopee. The 85 degree temperature had been tolerable earlier with humidity levels close to 30. All of that changed as humidity levels climbed 15 points and the air suddenly stopped moving. How do you stay cool on a night like this someone asked […]