Come Summer, Simply the Best
He was good enough to beat a future national sprint champion, good enough to win all four of his races that summer at the new racetrack in Shakopee. And he was good enough to become the first Horse of the Year in Minnesota Racing history. He was Come Summer. A stunning dark colt with royalty […]
Moe Man Takes Bullit
Quite appropriate. Very fitting. The trainer of a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner saddles the winning horse in a $35,000 overnight stake named for John Bullit, Canterbury Downs champion claimer in 1986, a horse ridden by Mike Smith, Julie Krone, Chris Antley, Scott Stevens and Dean Kutz among others. Ian Wilkes, who conditioned 2012 Classic winner Fort […]
Guldemann: A Founding Father
Mike Guldemann was a person many people recognized but few really knew…”Oh,’ yeah, Mike, sure. Saw him all the time.” He was an unimposing fixture at Canterbury Downs and then Canterbury Park, seldom seen on the frontside but ubiquitously present in the barns and racing office, often with a string of watches on one forearm, […]
Festival of Champions 2012: Sunny Days Ahead
It’s been twenty years since an unforgettable dark cloud hung over Canterbury Downs, a black funnel positioned to wipe out an entire industry and its primary place of business as well. Despite the hovering threat and very long odds of survival, horsemen saw a ray of hope. Nearly everyone expected a shutdown of this still […]
If the Glove Fits…
Contrary to what you’ve heard previously, you can go home again. Not only that, but you can arrive on a triumphant note with everything just short of blaring trumpets. Alex Canchari did just that Friday night. He came home and rode the winning horse in the fifth race, at the same racetrack where his father […]
A Derby by Any Other Name is Just as Sweet
The sportscasts percolated with the details that evening and banner headlines blared the news the next morning. A longshot – 72-1 mind you – had won the inaugural running of the $300,000 St. Paul Derby, a race that became at first asking the crown jewel of Minnesota horse racing. The year was 1986 and the […]
Brooks Fields, A Man of Vision
Frances Genter named a horse after him. A program in the stable area once bore his name. The racetrack he built named a race after him. He is, of course, enshrined in its Hall of Fame. He was honored from the early days of racing by the NAACP for his commitment to affirmative action in […]
In Memory: Dark Star 1946 – 2012
There is a seat in the middle of the pressbox sofa that was his for the past dozen years. A small, white lettered sign on the oval coffee table immediately in front has reserved the spot for him all that time. The table also was host to a smorgasbord of barbecued ribs, prime rib, baked […]
