The Canterbury Park stable gate opened Friday morning for horses arriving to what is expected to be a near-capacity barn area. The 54-day racing season begins Saturday, May 27 and runs through Sept. 16.
As of this morning there are nearly 100 horses on the grounds for trainers including Tony Rengstorf, Tim Padilla, Lynn Rarick, Bernell Rhone, Katlin Beford, Miguel Silva and Briannah McDaniel. The gradual arrival is the norm as the race meets at Turf Paradise in Phoenix and Oaklawn in Arkansas recently concluded.
Stable Area Manager Andrew Vold won’t see a day off in the near future as he navigates through a season of transition that includes the building of a new dormitory complex, demolition of nine barns, installation of a new track and paddock lighting system, reconfiguration of the training track and a conversion of the receiving barn to a stable that will be occupied by Silva and others. With nine barns gone, several trainers will be moving into new digs and Vold will do his best to make the transition as easy as possible.
Ray Hashimoto is busy readying the exercise wheel located on the eastern edge of the backstretch. Kevin Cole has the turf course looking healthy after a very long winter. Six turf races are offered in the condition book over the Saturday through Monday opening weekend. The main track, now overseen by Javier Barajas, has come to life and will open for training Monday morning at 6:00 a.m.
