Canterbury Park: Lady Canterbury tops $1.13 million stakes schedule

Canterbury Park has released a 26-race stakes schedule worth $1.13 million for its 2012 meet. The 62-day Canterbury season will run from May 18 through Labor Day, Sept. 3.

The Canterbury season will be highlighted by the second annual Race for Hope, a breast-cancer awareness fund-raiser on Aug. 4, and the Minnesota Festival of Campions on Sept. 2. Three stakes are carded on the Race for Hope program, including the $75,000 Lady Canterbury, a one-mile turf stakes for fillies and mares, which is the richest race of the meet. The Festival of Champions consists of six stakes for Minnesota-breds with total purses of $310,000.

The stakes program is worth $45,000 less than a year ago, primarily due to the Minnesota Turf Championship being dropped from the Festival of Champions. Canterbury is coming off a difficult year as the facility lost 20 days of revenue last summer when the Minnesota state government shut down due to a budget impasse. Canterbury was not allowed to race or simulcast during the shutdown, and its card room was closed as well.

Canterbury will not be hosting the Claiming Crown for the second straight year. The event was held at Fair Grounds this past December. A 2012 venue has not yet been named.