Canterbury Park stakes schedule is richest in track history

Canterbury Park will host 35 stakes races worth $2.375 million during its 2018 racing season, the Twin Cities-area track announced in a press release Wednesday.

The stakes schedule includes three more races than the 2017 program and is worth $372,000 more than last year. According to the release, it’s the most lucrative stakes program in track history.

Canterbury also has moved its richest race, the $200,000 Mystic Lake Derby, from Aug. 26 last season to June 23, 2018. The Mystic Lake Derby, a one-mile grass race, will share a program with the $100,000 Mystic Lake Mile and the $100,000 Lady Canterbury.

New to the 2018 stakes calendar is the $100,000 Canterbury Turf Express, a five-furlong grass race for older horses scheduled for Aug. 24.

Canterbury increased purses for six Minnesota-bred stakes by $15,000 each and added two $45,000 stakes for Minnesota-breds.

According to the release, Canterbury’s total scheduled purse outlay for 2018 is $15 million, about $1.2 million than in 2017. The 70-day live-racing season runs from May 4 through Sept. 15.