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Amphitheater at Canterbury Begins to Take Shape

Ground was broken for the new amphitheater at Canterbury Park and construction is now well underway. The completion date is spring of 2025. For more on the amphitheater story, is a story that was published in the StarTribune. https://www.startribune.com/new-19000-seat-amphitheater-coming-to-canterbury-park/600313202/

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Santa Anita’s Merz to be Canterbury’s Senior Director Racing Operations There was big news announced at Canterbury Park. After an exhaustive search, Canterbury Park CEO has selected Santa Anita’s Chris Merz as the Senior Director Racing. Here’s the full story from BloodHorse. https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/266037/merz-is-canterburys-new-sr-director-of-racing

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Canterbury Announces Major Development

There is big news coming from Canterbury Park including its estimated $15 million commitment to update the stable area! It’s all all part of the latest stage in Canterbury’s development project in which a 19,000-seat amphitheater will be built. Here’s a letter from Canterbury President and CEO Randy Sampson explaining the details: Monday, February 7,…

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2022 Expected to be Banner Year

As the record-setting 2021 Canterbury Park meet is increasingly in the rearview mirror, it is an ideal time to look forward to 2022. Its future looks bright, built upon a strong foundation from the past two years. The 2020 meet set the bar high for the 2021 meet, as it shattered handle records, even as…

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The unlikely story of a racetrack & an answer to a pandemic

One thing every racetrack has in common is a stable area population, closely living and working together. This was a formula for an explosive spread of Covid-19 at Golden Gate Fields. But instead of this being a tragedy, it actually proved to be a blessing in disguise. Here’s the whole story from the iconic “60…

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Challenging 2020 ushers in new era at Canterbury Park

2020 was an incredibly challenging year and yet Minnesota racing more than held its own. Even though the Canterbury Park meet had 13 fewer days than 2019, handle increased by over 40%. (from $48,142,704 to $68,388,504) This huge jump in handle was thanks to a repositioning of Canterbury as a weekday twilight signal, which made…

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Curt Sampson, Minnesota Racing Icon & Friend, Passes

As there is sadness in the passing of Curt Sampson, there is an even deeper appreciation of his 87 years of life that were so well lived and so integral to literally everyone involved in Minnesota racing. His last official title was that of Chairman Emeritus of Canterbury Park. But, really, he was the eternal…

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