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Canterbury Reports Record Handle, Record Purses At Meet’s Conclusion

Canterbury Park's 64-day meet concluded Saturday with a 13-race program that attracted $2,364,097 in handle.

Business was robust throughout the season at the Shakopee, Minn. racetrack, setting a record in total handle with $97,615,998 wagered, a 7.4 percent increase over 2021.

Saturday evening racing, absent since 2019, returned this season, accompanied by large crowds and handle. Average daily handle, $1,525,250, was up 9.5 percent compared to last season.

Record purses were also paid during the meet that was originally scheduled for 65 days of racing but poor track conditions caused the Aug. 7 card to be canceled and an abbreviated program to be run Aug. 6.

A total of $15,715,307 in purses were paid, one percent more than 2021 even though 12 fewer races were run. Field size was consistent with last year with an average of 7.31 starters per race.

Two Phil's was an impressive 9 3/4 length winner of the $50,000 Shakopee Juvenile on Saturday. The 2-year-old was ridden by Jareth Loveberry for trainer Larry Rivelli and owners Patricia's Hope LLC and Phillip Sagan. He returned $4.20 to win.

The $50,000 Tom Metzen HBPA Sprint went to Tony's Tapit and owner Jose Silva Jr. The 4-year-old colt was ridden by Ezequiel Lara and owned by Kirk Sutherland. Tony's Tapit, who paid $3.80, won by 2 1/4 lengths.

The final race day began with 14-time leading trainer Mac Robertson and Joel Berndt in a deadlock with 60 wins each. Robertson won race 2 and Berndt race 5 resulting in a tie for top honors.

Harry Hernandez, in his first season at Canterbury, won the Thoroughbred riding title with 79 wins, 29 more than second leading rider Luis Fuentes.

Thoroughbred owner honors went to Bob Lothenbach's Lothenbach Stables Inc., setting records for both wins and purses for an owner in a season. Lothenbach of Wayzata, Minn. won 55 races and earned $1,520,776 in purse money.

Midnight Current, undefeated this season in five starts, was voted Horse of the Meet. She earned $151,800, the bulk of which came from wins in the $100,000 Princess Elaine Stakes and the $50,000 Minnesota Turf Distaff. Midnight Current, a 4-year-old Minnesota-bred filly, is owned bred by Lothenbach and trained by Berndt.

Canterbury Park's 2022 Horse of the Year and divisional champions:

Horse of the Year – Midnight Current (owner: Lothenbach Stables LLC; trainer: Joel Berndt)
Sprinter – Doctor Oscar (owner: Peter Mattson; trainer: David Van Winkle)
Older Filly or Mare – Midnight Current (owner: Lothenbach Stables LLC; trainer: Joel Berndt)
Older Horse – Thealligatorhunter (Peter Mattson and Tim Padilla; trainer: Tim Padilla)
Grass Horse – Midnight Current (owner: Lothenbach Stables LLC; trainer: Joel Berndt)
Three-Year-Old Colt or Gelding – Love the Nest (owner: Lothenbach Stables LLC;: trainer: Joel Berndt)
Three-Year-Old Filly – It's Her Time (owner: Estate of Warren L. Bush; trainer: Mac Robertson)
Two-Year-Old – It's Bobs Business (Lothenbach Stables LLC; trainer: Joel Berndt)
Claimer – Optimal Courage (owner: Byron Lindaman and Silva Racing LLC; trainer: Miguel Silva)

Leading Thoroughbred Jockey: Harry Hernandez, 79 wins

Leading Thoroughbred Trainer: TIE Joel Berndt and Mac Robertson, 61 wins

Leading Thoroughbred Owner: Lothenbach Stables Inc., 55 wins

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Electronic Therapeutic Treatment Leads To Necker Island Scratch From $1 Million Kentucky Downs Stakes, $500 Fine For Trainer

Trainer Chris Hartman has been fined $500 for violating a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission regulation prohibiting electronic therapeutic treatments on horses within 24 hours of a race.

The Sept. 14 ruling states that Necker Island, a 5-year-old multiple stakes-winning son of Hard Spun who contested the 2020 Kentucky Derby, was treated with a portable handheld massager inside the 24-hour window for the ninth race at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky., on Sept. 10.

Necker Island was scratched from the race, the Grade 2, $1 million FanDuel Turf Sprint Stakes. The horse has been re-entered on Sept. 17 at Churchill Downs in the $275,000 Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes, where he is the 5-2 second choice in the morning line. Necker Island races for The Scherr Boys.

The treatment is in violation of 810 KAR 8:010 Section 3 (7) which states: “Electronic therapeutic treatments, other than nebulization, shall not be administered to a horse within 24 hours prior to post time of a race in which the horse is entered.”

Contacted by telephone, Hartman declined to comment, stating that the stewards ruling was sufficient in explaining what happened.

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Racing In Massachusetts? Former Suffolk Downs Owner In Negotiations For Great Meadowbrook Farm

Robert Fields, a former co-owner of Suffolk Downs, has entered into negotiations to purchase the 360-acre Great Meadowbrook Farm with the hope of bringing live racing back to Massachusetts, reports the Daily Racing Form.

Suffolk Downs last raced in 2019, and live racing has not been held in the state since.

If the sale goes through and a racing application is approved by state regulators, Fields' plans call for four days of live racing over an undulating turf course. The boutique-style meet would offer purses between $750,000 and $800,000 per day, with plans to add more race days over the next several years.

Overall, Great Meadowbrook Farm would be converted into a multi-purpose equestrian center, including boarding facilities for mares and stallions as well as a retirement and retraining facility.

CHRB Tells Tracks To Work Out Contract Differences With California Thoroughbred Trainers

The California Horse Racing Board conducted a public meeting at Cal Expo in Sacramento on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022. Chairman Gregory Ferraro chaired the meeting, joined by vice chair Oscar Gonzales and commissioners Dennis Alfieri, Damascus Castellanos, Brenda Washington Davis, Thomas Hudnut, and Wendy Mitchell.

The audio of this entire Board meeting is available on the CHRB Website (www.chrb.ca.gov) under theWebcast link. In brief:

The Board took an unyielding stand on the statutory requirement for race meets to have a signed agreement with horsemen. The Board approved a motion stating that license applications for new race meets will no longer be approved without such an agreement. Executives with Del Mar Racetrack, Santa Anita Park , and Golden Gate Fields have been negotiating with the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT) for three years, and the CHRB has frequently stepped in to facilitate those negotiations, but despite those efforts the parties have not been able to agree on the protocol for trainer exclusion.Chairman Ferraro said the Board has lost its patience and has given the parties until the Oct. 20 Board meeting to finally resolve the matter.
License applications that were on this meeting agenda were put over to the October meeting. Commissioner Mitchell added one stipulation to the chairman's motion by invoking a CHRB rule that allows the commissioners to conduct a hearing and decide the issue for themselves. If the parties do not bring a signed agreement to the October meeting, the Board will be able to immediately conduct a hearing, which could then allow the commissioners to approve license applications under whatever terms the Board dictates.
The Board allocated race dates for Southern California's Thoroughbred, fair, and Quarter Horse 2023 racing calendar. Allocations include simulcast days on which there is no live racing at the facility. Actual racing dates are decided when each license application is considered by the Board. As allocated, Santa Anita will open for simulcasting on Dec. 21, 2022, with dates running through June 20, followed by the Los Angeles County Fair (LACF) daytime meet at Los Alamitos (June 21 through July 11), Del Mar (July 12-Sept. 12), a second Los Alamitos daytime, Thoroughbred meet (Sept. 13-26), back to Santa Anita (Sept. 27-Nov. 7), back to Del Mar (Nov. 8-Dec. 5), and finally a third Los Alamitos daytime meet (Dec. 6-19). Furthermore, the Board allocated Quarter Horse dates for Los Alamitos from Dec. 21 through Dec. 19. Daytime horoughbred races at Los Alamitos are run concurrently with night quarter-horse racing.

The gap week between the close of the LACF meet and the actual start of racing at Del Mar's summer meet was hotly contested because of a projected $400,000 in revenue to the track that hosts simulcasting during that off week. The Board reached a compromise by allocating that simulcasting week to Del Mar in 2023 but indicated its willingness to consider awarding a simulcast week to Los Alamitos in 2024.

The Board put over consideration of allocating 2023 Thoroughbred and fair dates for Northern California until the October meeting in order to give the parties extra time to negotiate over some contested weeks. The Board did allocate dates for harness racing at Cal Expo in Sacramento. The harness dates will begin Dec. 21 and run through May 9, then resume Nov. 1 through Dec. 19.
The Board authorized the Los Alamitos Equine Sale Company to conduct a sale of Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos on two days, Oct. 1 and 2.
The Board approved the distribution of certain ADW revenue to a co-op marketing program at the Big Fresno Fair.
The Board authorized the distribution of $4,000 in race day charity proceeds by WatchandWager.com to four beneficiaries.
The Board approved for public notice regulatory amendments to existing apprentice rules to align with current health and safety standards for jockeys.
The Board approved for public notice proposed regulatory amendments establishing reporting requirements by owners and trainers of horses that die or are euthanized within 72 hours of leaving a facility under the jurisdiction of the CHRB.
CHRB Executive Director Scott Chaney reported that he and staff are continuing to work closely with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) on uniform medication and classification standards that HISA will introduce Jan. 1.

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