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Canterbury’s 2021 Race Dates Approved; Purses Projected To Increase 35 Percent

Canterbury Park's request for a 65-day 2021 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing season, May 18 through Sept. 16, was unanimously approved on Thursday by the Minnesota Racing Commission.

The Shakopee, Minn. track will conduct a Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday race schedule with racing also held on Memorial Day and Labor Day. as well as Saturday, July 3.

Purses are anticipated to be approximately $14 million, $220,000 per day, a projected increase of more than 35 percent in total and 12 percent per day as compared to 2020. A 2012 cooperative marketing and purse enhancement agreement reached with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, owners and operators of nearby Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, will supplement purses by $7.28 million. The agreement extends through 2022 with more than $80 million going toward purse supplements and joint marketing of the two properties.

Post time on Sundays and holidays will be 1:00 p.m. while weekday racing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday racing will begin at 5:00 p.m. On July 3, racing will begin at 4:00 p.m. The 2021 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse stakes schedules are expected to be announced in January with stall applications and the first condition book available shortly thereafter.

Canterbury Park's 24/7 card casino and simulcast racebook remain temporarily closed due to Executive Order 20-103 issued by Gov. Tim Walz to slow the spread of COVID-19. Visit www.canterburypark.com for more information.

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Sky’s Not The Limit For Jockey Marcus Swiontek

Jockey Marcus Swiontek became interested in horse racing really by chance. He grew up in Jordan, Minn., just 14 miles down Highway 169 from Canterbury Park, yet the racetrack was never on his radar. Marcus happened to be flipping through TV channels on a Saturday afternoon in the mid-2000s and stumbled across the Kentucky Derby.

“From that moment I said 'Hey, I'm going to do that,'” he recalled during a 2017 interview.

His professional race riding career began in 2011 aboard a Thoroughbred at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Az. He gravitated more to the Quarter Horse side of the industry over the years at Remington Park, Prairie Meadows, Canterbury, and Phoenix earning a living race riding and galloping in the mornings.

Swiontek won the Gopher State Derby in Shakopee on Zoomn On Bye July 7. He suffered an ankle injury three weeks later during a race and has not ridden since.

“I got on my first horse three or four days ago,” he said, admitting that the time away left him a bit muscle sore as he strives to get back in shape galloping for trainer Sandi Gann.

All along though Marcus has had a plan: prepare for his next career and be ready without delay. That career would be as an airline pilot. He studied in Minnesota, at Flying Cloud Airport, just across the Minnesota River and up the bluff from Canterbury, earning his student pilot license in June of 2017 and his private pilot license in March of 2018 while still race riding.

Last month, he made another stride toward the goal, getting a commercial license. He will still need additional coursework and 1,500 hours of flight time before the major airlines or cargo haulers come knocking. Marcus explained that those hours for many pilots, come through flight instruction, teaching others to fly. He can begin doing that in Phoenix in short order.

The racetrack still has an allure that is hard to walk away from. But unlike many athletes, Swiontek has an exit strategy taking him seamlessly from one world to another.

“I'd love to [return to Canterbury] this summer,” he said, but time and circumstances will dictate.

For the time being however he can have one foot in both worlds, flying and instructing while also preparing for opening day at Turf Paradise January 4.

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Canterbury Requests 65-Date Season For 2021, Purses Projected To Return To Pre-COVID Levels

Canterbury Park racing officials have submitted a request to the Minnesota Racing Commission for 65 racing dates in 2021 beginning May 18 and running through Sept. 16. With the request came the caveat that future impacts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may necessitate an amendment to the request. Horsemen purses are projected to return to pre-COVID-19 levels of approximately $220,000 per day, a 13 percent increase over the $195,000 per day in 2020. The meet would feature both thoroughbred and quarter horse racing.

Canterbury Park's 2020 race meet was delayed and shortened but once commencing on June 10 the meet ran uninterrupted for 53 days through Sept. 17 with limited spectators.

“We intend to run a more typical 65-day meet in 2021,” Vice President of Racing Operations Andrew Offerman said. “We have learned a lot about safely conducting a racing season during very trying circumstances. We will build on that knowledge next season knowing that there may be subsequent changes and alterations to the schedule. However, it is important for the racing industry to understand our intention to run a 65-day meet from mid-May through mid-September.”

With a capacity limit of 750 spectators in the recently concluded meet, track officials moved off the traditional Thursday through Sunday schedule and conducted racing Monday through Thursday evenings. The result was a 116 percent increase in out-of-state wagering handle. The request for 2021 is for a Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday schedule with racing on Memorial Day and Labor Day as well as Saturday, July 3.

Canterbury Park's live racing success has been predicated on live crowds averaging more than 6,500 per day generating food, beverage, handle and admission revenues crucial to supporting a race meet that employs more than 1,000 workers, the majority of which was lost in 2020.

“We fully understand the severity and serious nature of the ongoing pandemic; however we remain optimistic and are planning a 2021 season for what might be possible,” Vice President of Marketing John Groen said. “Should venues like Canterbury Park be allowed to safely increase attendance capacity, Sunday afternoon would provide an opportunity to reintroduce popular family promotions tied to live horse racing that we are known for.”

Sunday afternoon racing in 2021 would replace Mondays which produced the weakest results during Canterbury Park's 2020 meet. In past years, promotions such as corgi dog races and fireworks displays have attracted crowds three times larger than the daily average.

The 2021 schedule also includes a nine-day break to accommodate Twin Cities Summer Jam, a three-day music festival held in the racetrack infield July 22 through 24. The event was first held in 2019 but postponed in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.

The Minnesota Racing Commission, a nine-member panel appointed by the state's governor tasked with overseeing the integrity and safety of horse racing at Minnesota's two pari-mutuel racetracks, is expected to consider Canterbury's race date request at its December meeting. Minnesota Administrative Rule 7872.0100 required Canterbury Park to submit for 2021 racing dates no later than Nov. 15, 2020.

Canterbury Park's 24/7 card casino and simulcast racebook remain open daily. For more information visit www.canterburypark.com.

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Canterbury’s 2020 Season Sees Record Off-Track Wagering; Average Race Handle Up 114 Percent

A racing season that was postponed and shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic concluded Thursday evening at Canterbury Park with the results leaving track officials pleased, considering the race meet was in jeopardy in April. The Shakopee, Minn. racetrack conducted an uninterrupted 53-day race meet that began on June 10, a month later and 12 days shorter than originally planned.

With capacity limited to 750 spectators, when in 2019 the track averaged 6,592 daily, and race days reduced by 20 percent, wagering on track declined 65 percent to $3.7 million. Off-track wagering from across the country however increased 115.6 percent to $64.7 million. Average handle per race, perhaps the best comparison under the circumstances, increased 114 percent due to a 174 percent increase in per race out of state handle.

“We are pleased with the results of the 2020 live racing season and our record all-sources handle,” Vice President of Racing Andrew Offerman said. “Although the substantial increase in off-track handle didn't fully offset our losses in admissions, food and beverage and on-track handle revenues, the increase in exposure of our racing product and the national acceptance of it were encouraging. These off-track gains helped us salvage a mostly successful season in the midst of a global pandemic.”

Canterbury officials made the decision to pivot from a traditional schedule that included weekends to a Monday through Thursday race week designed to capture national wagering dollars when facing less competition. The gamble paid off as total handle of $68,388,504 for 53 days far exceeded the 2018 record of $48,142,704 when 66 racing programs were conducted.

Jockey Francisco Arrieta won the final two stakes of the season with victories in the $50,000 Shakopee Juvenile aboard 2-year-old filly Heart Full of Soul and the $50,000 Tom Metzen HBPA Sprint on King of the Court. Heart Full of Soul is trained by Mac Robertson and is owned by Hugh Robertson and Gregory Erwin. She defeated five colts and geldings, winning by two lengths and paying $7.00.
Robertino Diodoro trains King of the Court for owner Gary Kropp and Clayton and Rick Wiest. Arrieta and King of the Court tracked the pace, took control in upper stretch and held off a late challenge by Arcadia Calls to win by a neck. As the wagering favorite, the 5-year-old paid $5.40.

The leading Thoroughbred owner for the meet was Robert Lothenbach who won 32 races. Joel Berndt, whose primary owner is Lothenbach, won his first Canterbury training title with 45 wins. Ry Eikleberry was the leading thoroughbred jockey with 77 wins. This was his third riding title. The top quarter horse trainer was Jason Olmstead for the sixth consecutive season. He had 19 wins. Nik Goodwin won the quarter riding honors with 10 victories. Corey Wilmes was leading quarter horse owner with six wins.

Ready to Runaway, winner of four of five starts including the Lady Slipper Stakes, the Glitter Star Stakes and the Minnesota Distaff Sprint, was named Horse of the Meet. She is owned by John Mentz of Lakeville and is trained by Mac Robertson.

Canterbury Park's 2020 Horse of the Year and divisional champions:

Horse of the Year – Ready to Runaway (owner: John Mentz : trainer: Mac Robertson)
Sprinter – Ready to Runaway (owner: John Mentz : trainer: Mac Robertson)
Older Filly or Mare – Ready to Runaway (owner: John Mentz : trainer: Mac Robertson)
Older Horse – Drop of Golden Sun (owner: Rengstorf Racing LLC : trainer: Tony Rengstorf)
Grass Horse – Tut's Revenge (owner: Claim To Fame Stable : trainer: Clinton Stuart)
Three-Year-Old Colt or Gelding – Vo Fantastic Aira (QH) (owner: Corey Wilmes : trainer: Ed Ross Hardy)
Three-Year-Old Filly – Hotasapistol (owner: Gary and Brenda Bergsrud : trainer: Clinton Stuart)
Two-Year-Old – Sneeky Diversion (owner: Lothenbach Stables, Inc : trainer: Joel Berndt)
Claimer – Hotfoot (owner: Rocket Wrench Racing LLC : trainer: Karl Broberg)
Quarter Horse – Vo Fantastic Aira (owner: Corey Wilmes : trainer: Ed Ross Hardy)

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