Ken Brown, a racetrack maintenance professional with more than four decades of experience in the horse racing industry, will serve as Canterbury Park’s track superintendent for the 2017 race meet which begins May 5, track officials announced today. Brown, whose career began in the ’70s with the Ontario Jockey Club, was track superintendent from 1987 to 2005 for the Maryland Jockey Club where he oversaw daily operations at Pimlico Race Course, Laurel Park, and Bowie Training Center. His duties there also included track and infield preparation for the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. Most recently Brown was track superintendent at Delaware Park.
“Canterbury Park has a great reputation with horsemen and I look forward to this opportunity,” Brown said. “I will be on the track in earnest in April after the thaw.” Throughout the winter, Brown will be discussing with Canterbury officials and Dr. Mick Peterson, Executive Director of the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory, the best ways to maintain a safe and consistent track during the summer race meet.
Canterbury Park has a one-mile dirt oval and seven-furlong inner turf course. The track will open to horsemen for training in mid-April.
“I listen, look, feel, and ask questions,” Brown said. “I’m on the track most every day to get a feel for how it should be daily. Consistency is the key. If I need to find an answer, I’ll get an answer. I’m quite open to suggestions, opinions, and thoughts from others. It is in the best interest of everyone to have quality racing surfaces.”
Canterbury Park is accredited by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Safety and Integrity Alliance, a standing organization whose purpose is to establish standards and practices to promote safety and integrity in horse racing and to secure their implementation.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ken Brown to the Canterbury Park racing team,” track president Randy Sampson said. “He is a respected leader in his field and is highly regarded by his peers as well as horsemen that he has worked with in the past. I’m confident that Ken’s years of experience and dedication as a track superintendent at the highest levels will prove to be a great asset to Canterbury Park and our horsemen.”
The Shakopee, Minn. racetrack will conduct a 67-day racing season that concludes Sept. 16.
