Canterbury scheduled for 54-day meet in 2023

Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn., will run 54 live race days of mixed Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing in 2023, a schedule that was approved Thursday by racing regulators in the state.

The 54 days will be stretched over 4 1/2 months from May 27 through Sept. 16. Canterbury will shift from a schedule of three live race dates a week to a four-day week on July 12, running twilight cards on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with a 1 p.m. Central first post on Sundays. Racing will begin and end the meet on a three-day schedule with live racing on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Live racing also will be held on three Mondays: Memorial Day, July 3, and Labor Day.

According to Canterbury, purse distribution will average $200,000 per day, down 15 percent from the average of $234,000 last year over 64 days.

For the past 10 years, Canterbury has had an agreement with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Group, the owner of a nearby casino, to subsidize the track’s purses in exchange for Canterbury agreeing not to pursue expanded gambling at its track. That agreement expires at the end of this year, and negotiations on an extension have not borne fruit.

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“Canterbury Park and the Minnesota [Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association] have worked successfully during challenging times to create a racing program that provides opportunities to horse owners and breeders while also becoming increasingly popular with the wagering public,” said Randy Sampson, chief executive officer of the track.

With the closure of Arlington Park in Chicago last year, Canterbury has become an option for many more Midwest horses during the summer, but it also faces stiffer competition from Kentucky, where purses at Ellis Park have become stronger.

“In 2023 we have a schedule that I am confident will be successful based on available purse money and race-ready horses that will be at Canterbury throughout the summer season,” Sampson said.

In part to counter the impact of losing the subsidies from the Sioux Group, Canterbury reached a deal earlier this year to sell 40 acres of its property to a developer that plans to build a 19,000-seat amphitheater on the parcel. The project will require several barns to be torn down and rebuilt on a different section of the property. The training track also will be reconfigured.

Canterbury said in a press release that the stable area will open May 5, with training beginning May 8.

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