Canterbury to emphasize turf racing; adds lower takeout all-turf pick three
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The Canterbury Park meet, which opens Saturday night in Shakopee, Minn., will have two recurring themes: Low takeout and lots of turf racing.
The 54-date Canterbury meet runs through Sept. 16 and opens with a nine-race card led by a pair of $50,000 sprint stakes for Minnesota-breds. The 10,000 Lakes drew stalwart Hot Shot Kid – a two-time winner of the race – while Clickbait defends her title in the Lady Slipper.
There are also three turf races on the card.
“We’re starting off with a lot of turf,” said Chris Merz, the new senior director of racing operations for Canterbury. “We have 10 turf races the next three days, so we’re going to really be highlighting our turf course over the course of the meet.
“We’re trying to meet the Midwest demand on turf racing. Over the last 10 years, you’ve seen turf racing maybe average 30 percent of racetracks’ total amount of races run – now it’s coming up to 50, 60 percent in some areas. So, we’re getting on that trend.”
Merz said Canterbury ran 167 turf races in 2021 and 187 last season. He said the goal this meet is 200.
In conjunction with expanded turf racing, Canterbury is offering reduced takeout on some of its grass races.
“This year we are starting a new bet on Wednesdays, where we are having an all-turf pick three,” Merz said. “That will be a minimum $1 [wager], with a 14 percent takeout.”
Canterbury is again offering a reduced 10 percent takeout on pick five wagers and its early pick fours.
Canterbury’s stakes program of 24 races for Thoroughbreds is worth a total of $1.65 million. Of the stakes, 16 are restricted to horses bred in Minnesota.
The most significant stakes dates are June 21, the Northern Stars Festival that includes five turf stakes on a Wednesday; Hall of Fame Day on July 15; the Minnesota Derby and Oaks on Aug. 12; and the Festival of Champions on Sept. 9, which features six stakes for Minnesota-breds.
“On all four of those days we’re going to be offering an all-turf pick five,” Merz said. “It’s a fifty-cent minimum wager with a 10 percent takeout.”
Merz comes to Canterbury from Santa Anita, where he was the director of racing and racing secretary. He takes over for Andrew Offerman, who is now with the New York Racing Association.
Merz said purses are projected to average $220,000 a program. The track will run two or three races for Quarter Horses on Wednesdays.
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Canterbury is opening about a week later and racing 10 fewer dates this meet following the expiration of a purse supplement agreement with a nearby casino.
During the offseason, Canterbury began work on a new dormitory building featuring 36 rooms that is scheduled to be completed by the end of this month, said Merz. Canterbury also reconfigured its training track from five-eighths to about a half-mile in size to make room for new barns that will be constructed following the close of this meet.
Canterbury will have a 5 p.m. Central post on Wednesdays and Saturdays and a 1 p.m. post on Sundays. The track will add six Thursdays to the mix in July and August. There is racing this Monday on Memorial Day.
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