Tack was packed, stalls were stripped, and plans were finalized in the stable area at Canterbury Park as trainers, their employees, and their charges shipped to other destinations such as Churchill, Turf Paradise, and Hawthorne. The exodus began in full last week Sunday. Many horses are simply turned out for the winter months, to return to training after the first of the year.
While the backside is nearly a ghost town now, there are yet a handful of outfits still on the grounds awaiting the opportunity to ship into Keeneland, but give it another week and the once bustling mini-town will be deserted for the winter months.
The Midwest Paddock Report did a fine job of covering the Canterbury race meet and its personalities again this season and the wrap-up piece on 2017 is worth a look. Plenty of facts and figures for you.
For those that want a deeper dive into some numbers, here are more:
Trainer and Jockey Stats broken down into different categories. For example, Bernell Rhone won at just an 8 percent clip on the turf, but overall when a Rhone horse was favored it won 46 percent of the time.
Biggest and smallest mutuel payouts and fastest and slowest final times for all distances. Two-year-old Amy’s Challenge, the Canterbury Horse of the Meet, ran the fastest six furlong time. The slowest final time for one mile on the turf was recorded in the track’s richest race, the $200,000 Mystic Lake Derby. However, the turf that evening was yielding, and more akin to a bog than a lawn.
The most expensive claim was on June 2 when Hurricane Force was tagged for $25,000 by owner John Mentz and trainer Mac Robertson.
The Oracle, an occasional contributor to the blog, found these additional stats interesting. Robertson had a positive ROI of $1.01 for each $1 wagered. Mac had 45 horses go off at odds of 8 to 1 or higher and seven won returning a positive $1.98. According to The Oracle’s database, Robertson had a single horse go at odds of more than 20 to 1 and it won. That was Teddy Time who won the July 3 Blair’s Cove and returned $48.40.
Planning for the 2018 race meet is already underway. It is likely a request for race dates will be submitted to the Minnesota Racing Commission in November and approved in December.
