(Significant portions of this blog were first published on www.canterburyracingclub.com. You can also click there to see hoe we communicate with the Club members, the wonderful dialogue that goes on and to sign up for the Club.)
As you may recall, last year I managed the Canterbury Racing Club for Canterbury Park. It was a tremendous experience and I had a great time. ASK EDDY was able to win for the Club 4 times while my claim of MUNDY lost us a few bucks. However, at the end of the season folks that bought in for $250 received nearly $185 back. Not bad and I think it may have been a Club record.
Even though it was quite a bit of work, I agreed to do it again this year: mostly because it was fun and Heather agreed to help me out! Her primary responsibility will be handling the distribution of Winners' Circle photos (hopefully she'll be busy!!) as well as taking candid and racing shots during the season that we can post on the Club page. She can be reached at Heather@grevelisracing.com .
We will once again be utilizing the services of Clay Brinson as our trainer. Clay has proven to be quite the wizard with the our lower level claimers and since that is the Club's bread and butter, I wanted to make sure we locked him up for this season.
Here is a quick rundown for folks unfamiliar with how the Club operates:
The Club was designed by Jeff Maday and the folks at Canterbury Park to promote ownership as well as to give folks a glimpse "behind the curtain" and de-mystify what it's like to won and race thoroughbreds. Given the number of folks that have gone on to buy their own horses or form their own partnerships, the club has been a success.
Members pay $250 to join the Club. There are no additional fees and the only additional expense will be if we are fortunate enough to get into the Winners' Circle, there will be small charge for a photo.
The Club ends at the end of 2014 or when we have sold off our horses. As an example, last year we closed in November because our last horse was claimed then and it made no sense to claim a horse for only a few weeks.
Members get admission to Canterbury Park for the season as well as, if available, a special location to watch the races, rotating paddock access and - again, if we're lucky - access to the Winners' Circle.
We will conduct a few backstretch tours during the season as well so we can visit the barns and get a glimpse at life on the backside.
Last year we ended up with just about 180 members and I'm hopeful that we can push that number up over 200 this season. The number of members will impact the number of horses the Club can own and run but hopefully we can run at least 2 or maybe even 3 this year. It ends up being a lot of action for folks for a summer!
If you want more information on the Club (or some of our own open partnerships) please feel free to contact me at ted@grevelisracing.com. Club info can also be obtained through Jeff Maday at Canterbury Park at jmaday@canterburypark.com.
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