Canterbury Park meet to remain at 69 days in 2014

Canterbury Park will hold a 69-day Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse race meet in 2014, the same number of race days as this year, after receiving approval from the Minnesota Racing Commission on Monday.

The meet will run from May 16 through Sept. 13. Next year’s stakes schedule and purse structure will be announced in December.

In June 2012, Canterbury Park and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, which owns and operates Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, entered into an agreement in which the tribe will add $75 million to the horsemen’s purse fund over 10 years. This year, total purses nearly doubled from 2011 levels, and the 69-day meet was the track’s longest since 2006.

“Racing in Minnesota took a big step forward,” Eric Halstrom, Canterbury Park’s vice president of racing operations, said in a statement. “I expect the industry to make additional gains in 2014 as horsemen and racing fans around the country take notice.”

This year, for the first time since 1991, Canterbury’s 1,600-stall stable area was at capacity, and the track’s average daily handle increased 16 percent from 2012, the track said.