Gearing Up

As we get under the 100 day mark until live racing returns to Canterbury Park, horses are getting ready all over the country.  There are potential Canterbury runners in training from Louisiana to Minnesota and Kentucky to Arizona and many places in between.  Currently we have one horse in training and a yearling spending some time growing up.  As I told you about earlier, we sold Tabby Lane and while we retain the designation of 'breeder' to her Doneraile Court foal-to-be, she's off our books with the exception of the stud fee due when the foal stands and nurses.  Last post I mentioned that you can't do it all and we decided to focus on racing.  I'd love to be the independently wealthy type to race and breed, but I'm not so we roll the dice with Ellie and George and whoever else comes down the road.

Tabby Dacat

Young George (Tabby Dacat, officially) is pictured below.  He is a large roan (well, getting there) colt by Eastwood Dacat.  He appears to be relatively correct and is growing nicely, albeit a bit quickly.  We're very excited about our own homebred Minnesota bred.

Tabby Dacat (Eastwood Dacat-Tabby Lane-Even the Score) - We call him George

George and friend...



George will be part of a partnership group when he heads into training late this year, though it's entirely possible that we would put together a group for him earlier since demand seems to be relatively high even though folks know that nothing exciting is going to happen for about a year until he starts training in earnest.

Elusive Edition

Ellie (Elusive Edition) had a very difficult first year.  We ran her four times and she was a complete disaster in her first three.  Her first race could be considered a throw out - she failed to exit the gate in a timely manner and trailed the entire race.  Though she did beat a single horse in that maiden effort.  That initial effort was at 6 furlongs, much like her next two where she again finished 2nd to last. 

Elusive Edition (Late Edition-Mystical Elusion-Menifee) checking out the new surroundings at Turfway

To say that I was depressed over this would be an understatement.  After hurting her shins as a 2-year old and not racing, that first race was a long time coming.  Her efforts leading up to the season in training were good and we had high hopes heading into her 3-year old season.  This was clearly not the start we envisioned.

Her final start of the season was going a mile and 70 yards.  It was a desperation-ish move based on some sound reasoning.  Her jockey, Dean Butler, had mentioned to us that she just couldn't keep up at 6 furlongs and that, maybe, if we sent her longer he could relax her more and that might give her a chance in the race.

She didn't finish second to last in the maiden claiming effort (7th of 10), she did chase the winner around in 2nd place into the lane before she faded.  She most likely wasn't ready to go long and that last effort gave us - well most of us - some hope that with preparation geared to a router instead of a sprinter she may have a chance.

So with that she is back in training with Michelle Allen at Turfway Park.  We sent her away because the winters here have been very hard and really cut into training.  While she's going to be on a short leash this season - more second to last place finishes and we'll find her a new job - we do want to make sure that she has every opportunity to succeed.

New Group(s)

As I mentioned above, we'll be looking at getting George into a group at some point but right now we also are about halfway to 60% full for a new claiming private purchase group to launch this season.  We're keeping this group to 10 members so hopefully we fill in the next month and start shopping.

The Canterbury Racing Club is filling up nicely this season and while it looks like we won't be as big as this past record breaking season (204 members) we will end up well over 100 members.  We may have set the bar a bit high last season with six wins and twelve in the money finishes in 15 starts but it does give us something to shoot at!

We also started a group specifically for Canterbury Racing Club alumni.  There was quite a bit of pent up demand to get the Club to do more: carry over horses from year to year, maybe get a better quality horse and run in higher level races; but the Club was never designed for that.  It was developed as an educational opportunity for people who want to learn about racing without having to worry about paying the bills to do so.

Out of this the CAC Racing was born.  The CAC standing for Canterbury Alumni Club.  Where the Canterbury Club is a not for profit endeavor, CAC Racing will be for profit - at least we are going to try.  The Racing Club is only a $250 buy in and our regular partnerships are a $2000 buy in.  The CAC Racing group falls in between.  There is a $1000 buy in and the group was capped at 50.  As I mentioned, the only requirement is that member had to have once been a member of the Canterbury Racing Club.  I look at it like an intermediate step on the ownership ladder.

Tough Summer, Tough Love, New Attitude

There are all kinds of excuses I can use for not keeping up on the blog this summer: new job, work travel, busy with DRF writing and the Canterbury Club but the reality is that I’ve been depressed. 

This summer, as far as racing goes, has been a disaster.  It all started when our broodmare, Tabby Lane, in foal to graded stakes winner Doneraile Court (an A++ True Nick if you were wondering), nearly died from a bout with colic.  Of course we weren’t home for her, we were trekking halfway across the country to my oldest son’s high school graduation.  Thanks to the expertise and quick thinking of Lisa Duoos at Dove Hill Farm and the folks at Weitz Equine, Tabby made it through and made it through with her foal safe and sound.  Without them, she surely would have died.  The bills were, of course, enormous, and contributed to Tabby being put on the sales block.

Elusive Edition, our 3YO Minn bred filly, had beaten but a single horse this summer in her first 3 career starts – NOT the start we envisioned – until she actually seemed to make an effort in her last race.  She was 2^nd most of the way before tiring to 7^th in the stretch in her first route effort.   I’m still not sure what her future holds.  Maybe we’ll find her another career over the winter.  Maybe she’ll grow and mature a bit; she’s always been a bit on the small side and maybe she really wasn’t ready at three?  If that’s the case we’ll start her up a bit further south after the first of the year and have her ready for the start of the2015 meet.

Bourbonology has been a mere shadow of her former self.  Breaking her maiden in late running fashion last summer I think may have given us a false sense of how she was capable of running.  That turned out to be an aberration as she was content to lope around mid-pack for most of the rest of her races.  We really thought a nice extended vacation and a slow crank up was what she needed to recharge the batteries.  Turns out that there was nothing really there in the way of heart and she’d just given up on racing.  We found her a nice second career teaching kids to ride in southeastern Minnesota so the rest of her life she should be loved on constantly.

Even the Canterbury Club has faltered a bit this season.  Granted, last year winning four races may have been too much to emulate and winning with Maryjean right off the claim this year may have set up some impossible expectations, but we haven’t won since.  We’ve been hitting the board and paying our way, which is really what you hope for, but it’s till disappointing.  I love winning for the people.  They get so excited and it gives them a thrill that I know they really enjoy.  I feel badly having only brought that to them once this season.

So I’ve been wallowing in a season long stew of self-pity.  It’s been very hard to climb out of and, to give her all the credit in the world, Heather has been right there every step of the way.  She’s offered encouragement, backed off when that would be best, listened, consoled and offered advice.  She’s even kicked me in the ass when necessary.  I’ve been ready to pitch the whole racing thing on several occasions.  It’s tough to lose and it’s especially tough to lose when you represent other people.

For the partners that were in on Bobo (Bourbonology) from back in the E Sveikata (Kat) days, it’s a disappointing ending to a long and, what I would think, a successful ride.  We won with Kat and had her claimed for twice what we bought her.  Got a win with Bobo, hit the board with both a few times, and no one had to put in another dime.  That’s a good two and a half year run.  Those that bought into her heading into this season though, a completely different experience and I feel horribly about that.

I’m shaking it all off now, though.  We’re going to get through this lull and get back on form again.  This year was an aberration and it’ll be treated as such.  We’ll reform, regroup and get back on the attack: either starting at Hawthorne, Tampa or both.  Not only will we win again, but we’ll do so with a renewed humbleness that only this game can provide for you.

Thanks to Jeff Maday and Michelle Benson for having me on Chalk Pub Talk this week and help reinvigorate my attitude.  Great friends, great family and a great partner can get you through anything.  So to help kick off the relaunch of the blog (and my attitude), here is the edition of Chalk Pub Talk, courtesy of Canterbury Park.

News and Notes or a Mishmash of Stuff

Thoughts on Chromer

I wasn't a believer initially.  Heading into the Derby I was not sure if he was really all that and he proved me wrong.  I jumped on the bandwagon after the Derby win, along with many others, and he certainly endorsed my confidence.

I didn't care much about the "slowness" of the Derby - there were 18 others that couldn't run faster.  The final time of a race can be influenced by many factors including the condition of the racetrack (the long break between the last dirt race and the Derby could have contributed to the 'dryness' of the track, some have speculated) and the strategy as the race developed.  I was afraid of the blistering pace in the Derby and it turned out that no one wanted to go.

Heading into the Preakness I was a bit afraid of the pace development again because if no one went in the Derby, then certainly someone would go in the Preakness.  There was some pace but Chrome ended up perfectly placed and was able to charge home.

I've actually avoided reading a lot of Tweets about the Preakness because I can already hear the complaining: ANOTHER perfect trip; he'll never get a mile and half; etc.  We'll see.  I didn't think he'd get a mile and a quarter and perfect trips come from good rides by good jockeys on good horses - you make your own luck.

Personally, I'm going to unabashedly root for a Triple Crown, I think we could use it.

Ellie Preps

Elusive Edition is getting closer to her first start for us.  She's prepping okay.  She's had two timed works where she wasn't asked for much.  In her last she had a four furlong work and she walked off the track looking like she handled it just fine.  I wouldn't go so far as to say she wouldn't have been able to blow out a candle, but it was pretty close.  I'm reserving judgments until I see her really lay out.

There are quite a few fine 3-year old Minnesota bred fillies this year, one of the best in her own barn, Sky and Sea.  She's nominated to the Minnesota Oaks but we have to get rolling first and the anxiety may kill me!

Canterbury Club

The best way to follow the doings of the Canterbury Racing Club is to sign up to get the blog updates at canterburyracingclub.com but in a nutshell: we claimed filly Maryjean for $8,000 in a race she won impressively.  We're hoping to bring her back this weekend, up a notch or two, and see what we have.  Club membership closed at a record 202 people and we're still looking for another horse for the club as well.

Bourbonology

Bobo is working on the farm and will head over to the race track in a couple of weeks.  She'll need a couple of works in her but she is rounding into shape very well.  Hopefully we'll get a start out of her by mid-June and get her summer started quickly and successfully!

Mother and Son

Tabby Lane is doing great.  We've had her covered a few times by Doneraile Court but she's come up empty.  We gave it one last try the other day and we'll see.  If she doesn't take then she'll get the year off and we'll focus on George and getting him through year one.  I think his mix of Eastwood Dacat's speed and Tabby's stamina and soundness will get us a nice runner, not just a nice Minnesota bred - but we'll see in a couple of years!

That's all the news that's fit to print now.  It should be an interesting three weeks between now and the Belmont - thank goodness.

Canterbury Racing Club 2014

(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.

Forging Ahead: Some Goals for 2014

Now that I’ve gone ahead and taken a look back, it’s “resolution” time.  I hate to call them resolutions because I think then I’m just setting myself up for failure.  I guess that these are more like “goals” I would like to reach and want to build a plan around them to help me get there.  Here are the top 5 for 2014:

“WORK” At My Handicapping.  I know, we all think that we work at it when we sit and break down a race card but the truth is that being successful at this game requires you to have better insight than the people you are wagering against.  Back when I was moderately successful at this, I took notes on races and horses, I kept track of my wins and losses, I broke down the results of races against the past performances to see what it is that I missed.  More often than not, I missed something and documenting that helped keep me from repeating that error.  I’d like to get back to a strike rate of 40% at average odds of 7/2 or better again.

I’m also going to re-sign up for the National Handicapping Championship this season and try and play in an event per month to try and qualify for the 2015 Championships in Las Vegas as well as utilizing my balance at Derby Wars to play in more tournaments as well.  Competition forces you to keep you skills sharp and, let’s face it; I’m a very competitive person anyhow!

Promote TURF.  A few years back we formed a loose group of bloggers with the announced goal of writing about and promoting our sport of horse racing.  Some of the best bloggers in North America became part of TURF and I’ve decided to take that on for 2014; at least try and promote members blogs on our Facebook page (Turf Bloggers) and Twitter (@turfbloggers) account.  I’ll see if I can end up doing more than that, but for now that may have to be enough.

Blog More Often.  This one seems simple enough, but it never seems to work out.  Ted needs to sit his ass down in front of the PC and get it done.  There are going to be a few things I’m going to try this year that are new, like some video pieces such as putting together a video of bringing a horse up to their first ever race that hopefully would be fun and interesting. 

Expand the Club.  Managing the Canterbury Park Racing Club was fun, interesting and rewarding.  We got some nice press through the Paulick Report in the Spring, but I have not seen this concept take off anywhere else.  That strikes me as a gig that could be developed into something nationwide.  I don’t think that Magna Group, NYRA or Churchill Downs Inc. would be interested per se (though they should be) but what about other racetracks around the US like Tampa Bay, Hawthorne, Oaklawn or Turf Paradise?  No one may be interested, but I’m going to give it a try.

Get Organized. My move this past summer left me totally discombobulated. I have files everywhere and paperwork that needs to get into them! I need to take the time it takes to get them set and maintained.  Realistically it only takes a few minutes of extra time a day once I’m set up to do it so I need to remind myself how much easier life is when I’m organized and not procrastinate when it comes to taking those five extra minutes.

Certainly not unattainable goals, I don’t think.  I also want to lose weight, exercise more, expand my partnerships, write better, get the book in my head onto paper and on, and on, and on.  However I think that these five are good and in one way shape or form, interrelated. Being organized affects all the other goals.  Being more active in writing and promoting TURF will help expand my platform and could help open doors to generating more business.  The lifeblood of our sport is the wagering and being better at that aspect can permeate all the others since it would force me to follow racetracks and horses more carefully, record my thoughts and expand the potential pool of subject matter.  It would also keep me from my embarrassing 2013 finishes this year in the Hello Race Fans expert picks!

Best of luck in all your goals for 2014.  I look forward to hearing about yours and sharing with you the progress as this stable turns into the wind and tries to take flight.

 

 

Doldrums

It's that time of year, post Breeders' Cup/pre Derby prep season - and well past racing season at Canterbury Park, that makes you just sigh and glance at the calendar.  Coming home to a dusting of snow from the Breeders' Cup didn't help matters either.

At this point in time we aren't racing, just waiting.  BOURBONOLOGY will wait until Canterbury to make her return to the races.  She finished up the season okay, finishing second in a NW2 affair, but has failed to live up to her potential.  We decided to let her be a horse over the winter and get her back in training in February to get her ready for the turf season starting in late May at Canterbury, hoping that the extra time off will get her head in the right place and get that fire back in her.  With some heart back, I think she still can be a formidable presence on the turf and do considerably better than she has been.

ELUSIVE EDITION was pulled off the track with shin issues as a 2-year old earlier this summer.  We decided not to push her.  Some horses are ready to go at 2 and some just aren't and if you push them you can ruin them - we do NOT want to ruin "Ellie".  One thing she does have is a passion for running.  She loves it.  You can see it in the way she moves and we got glimpses of it on the track this summer.  She'll head back into training in February with the goal of having her ready to go opening weekend at Canterbury.

A very pregnant TABBY LANE is at Dove Hill Farm awaiting her foaling date which is mid- to late March.  Interestingly, her own foaling day was March 17 so she should be giving birth right around her own birthday.  She has been doing great and, knock on wood, been staying healthy and trouble free.  Here is a glimpse of her at the halfway point.

 

 

In foal to the Storm Cat stallion, EASTWOOD DACAT, we look forward to his speed and her proclivity for 7 furlongs to a mile to be a great combination and look to see the youngster tearing up the Canterbury turf in a few years.

 

Our time managing the Canterbury Racing Club has also come to an end with the claim of ASK EDDY at Hawthorne a couple of weeks ago.  EDDY was a real trooper and a cranky pain in the ass - it was hard not to love him!  EDDY won 4 races for the club and provided everyone with a thrill the way he gave his all each time out on the track.  MUNDY was a bit more enigmatic, but while we couldn't get a win with her, she did give it her best shot every time out.  Running the Club was a great experience and I loved getting to know the folks in the group, though I didn't get to meet all 170+ folks - maybe next year!

 

As the winter deepens it's nice to know that in less than 180 days we'll be back to racing here in Minnesota come Preakness weekend.  Unfortunately for now, the stable is all about expenses though come May we'll be attacking with a vengeance! 

Updates on Ours, Heliskier and Some Dialogue

BOBO

Bourbonlogy got rained out last Sunday.  Not so much because of the weather, but because of the track conditions.  The race was washed off the turf and we were ready to go anyway.  There were a few scratches that made the race a bit easier for us but racing was called after a few races because of unsafe track conditions.  A trainer and a jockey told me it was akin to a pothole strewn road with puddles hiding the worst of it.  Of course a thoroughbred’s thin leg getting stuck and twisted in a hole could be disastrous and if the riders think it’s unsafe, who am I to disagree?

Bobo will go this Thursday in a Maiden Special Weight over the turf course going a mile and 70 yards.  She’ll start out of the chute and make a lap around the oval. She’ll open in the wagering as the 4-1 2^nd choice in the morning line behind Clay Brinson trained Bluegrass Lucy.  I’ll be back with a full profile of the race later in the week.

I’ll also have to retry the “View of the Owners” video blog again, though not this time.  My quick trip to IL has turned into a week-long grind that won’t get me home until sometime very late Friday night or early Saturday morning so I will miss Bobo’s first start in person, though I will be watching in a hotel room somewhere near Detroit.  Or, on my Horse Races Now app if I’m able to pick up a ticket to the Red Sox game that night while they are in Motown!

HELISKIER

Word is still positive on Heliskier.  The champion Minnesota bred gelding is banged up but doing okay after going down to his nose at the break on Sunday, ending his undefeated streak and generating one of my most read blog posts ever when I wrote about some of the behaviors I (and others) witnessed when it was learned the horse nearly went down.

Feedback from that post has been interesting.   I have had some dialogue with people who feel that I misunderstood what they – or folks with them – were expressing.  I think we have differing viewpoints on that and it was a good lesson for a lot of people in perception versus reality.  You may indeed be cheering for your horse hitting the front in a race but if that cheering comes at the same time the track announcer says that a horse juts face planted, your actions may be misconstrued.  Hell, that’s a lesson even I needed to relearn in a way.

This fellow pointed out that by my saying that I was never happier to see a horse fade like Careless Hunter did that I was basically cheering for their horse to be hurt as well.  That wasn’t the case at all, of course.  I didn’t want the kids’ bad behavior to be rewarded BUT I can see his point.  I knew the horse went out too fast and was tired.  The horse wasn’t hurt and no one suspected that he was either.  I also didn’t cheer and or high five someone when I heard that he had packed up the fight.  HOWEVER by not really thinking about how that statement could be taken by someone before I wrote it, I did, kind of, the same thing – I reacted but didn’t think. At the end of the day, I wish nothing but the best for Careless Hunter’s connections and hope they pick up a couple of wins before the summer is done, they seem like really good people.

ELLIE

Elusive Edition has been training okay.  She’s very smart and she simply LOVES to run – two things you can’t train a horse.  She has been experiencing some aches and pains, nothing major but she’s had to rest a bit throwing her a bit off schedule and causing us some concern.  We’re getting to know her better and better and she is really quite a character.  Most definitely one of the best parts of owning these horses is getting to know them as individuals and Ellie is a riot – and most definitely still a baby in some ways as well!

She’s rested a bit and gone back to the racetrack.  We’ll need to pick things up on her in the next week or so and see her develop.  It’s exciting but also our optimism and excitement is still tempered with some caution as it always should be with 2-year olds.

CANTERBURY RACING CLUB

This is been two things: more work that I imagined and more fun than I could have hoped.  The people involved are absolute gems.  We had our first race on Friday night and Mundy, our mare, gave everyone a thrill as she took command in the lane and looked like a winner before tiring to third.  The pace was a bit hot and the turf was a bit soft and both contributed to her fatigue, but it was an exciting run and the folks really turned out for it.  Hopefully we’ll have our gelding, Ask Eddy, race this weekend and I’ll get to meet more of the great folks in the Club.  I doubt I’ll ever meet all 179 of them, but I’m hoping to, even if I will forget most of the names – never the faces, but I’m HORRIBLE remembering names!

 

The start has been a bit slow, but hopefully we'll pick up the pace and hit the winners' circle a few times along the way.

Canterbury Works to Educate New Fans on Wagering

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to participate in a class at Canterbury Park that is offered each week they call Canterbury College.  Canterbury College is a program designed by Canterbury Park for novice handicappers to help teach them basics of handicapping and beyond.  The program has been in place for several years and is a great way to bring fans to the race track and give them the confidence to wager.  The program is held over 6 Sundays from February to April and is free to enroll and includes course materials (including Brad Free’s “Handicapping 101” book) and lunch.  Enrollment this off-season was about 170 students looking to take advantage of the opportunity.

I was there ostensibly to talk about horse ownership and the Canterbury Racing Club but hosts Track Announcer Paul Allen (Twitter: @PAKFANVikes) and Media Relations Manager Jeff Maday (Twitter: @CBYTrackFlack) graciously allowed me to share the podium with them for the three hour class.

We tackled 4 races, 3 at Tampa Bay Downs and 1 from Hawthorne and the three of us would handicap the race aloud, taking the group through the thought process of how we break down races trying to find winners answering questions as they came up.  We’d explain all the terminology with nothing being too basic.  As the race was run, Paul (the best kept secret in track announcing in America) would take the class through the race, pointing out horses that were being ridden hard, traveling easily or otherwise having trouble.  When the race was done, we’d spend a few minutes breaking down the winner and pointing out what we may have missed or what may have contributed to that particular horse winning the race.

I know that many tracks during the season have brief “welcome to the races” sessions, but I don’t know of any that go through as much effort during the off-season as Canterbury does to court new players and educate them on how to tackle the game.  As I was telling a few of the students as I left the track, this game is like a puzzle and once you can start figuring things out, there is a lot of beauty and satisfaction in figuring out a race correctly.

I can honestly say I don’t know when I have had that much fun.  The students were great and seeing that many people so interested in the learning the game I love so much was heartening.  The give and take with Jeff and Paul was also enjoyable.  We didn’t always agree, but that’s part of the fun: differing opinions make for a more lively exchange.

Thanks to Paul and Jeff for the invite and a big thank you to all the students that come out every few weeks to learn the racing game.

Canterbury Opens Door to Ownership

How do we get new owners in the game?  It’s a question that the industry has been asking for a long time.  Owner and breeder groups have been putting on “New Owner Seminars” for years and every once in a while a celebrity owner like Bobby Flay or Jim Rome shines the spotlight on the sport, but more often than not, all that serves to do is reinforce the image of racing as an expensive luxury inaccessible to the middle class or a mystery shrouded riddle that could only be accessed by those “in the know”.

In 2009 Canterbury Park boldly stepped out to draw back the curtain and pull its fan base into the action by forming the Canterbury Racing Club.  For $250 a person could buy into the Club and feel the joy of ownership without having to risk another dime.  The initial Club drew 60 participants and campaigned a winning filly name Tahitian Queen.  

The goal was to provide an educational experience for owners and give them the opportunity to see what it was like to own a racehorse.  A blog was created where they could follow the action and also keep track of the monthly financial transactions.  Videos from the trainer and jockey were posted to give members an understanding of what goes on during the training period between races.  It was a way to demystify racing.

 

Since 2009 the Club has more than doubled in size and has gone from a single horse to a multiple horse stable with last year’s Club topping 140 members.  With the partnership with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (Mystic Lake Casino) heading into its first full season the stewards of the Club the last several years, Jeff Maday and Andrew Offerman, are stretched to limit with other responsibilities.  This year I will be stepping in and managing the Club for Canterbury.  I’m looking forward to building on the tremendous success that the Club has had and we’re hoping for an even larger membership this year.

Club “graduates” have gone on to form their own partnerships and buy and race their own horses, perhaps not in overwhelming numbers, but the fact that some have, and that the club keeps growing every year, are indications that there is movement in the right direction.  Add in Canterbury’s three consecutive years of record average daily attendance numbers and there is a lot of positive going on right now at the Shakopee oval.

Here is how the Club is structured:

Each membership is $250.  No other funds will be required.  The member will receive free admission to Canterbury Park for the season and admission to the paddock and winners’ circle (these two may need to rotate depending upon the size of the membership).  When possible, we will also try and set up a reserved area for the group on race days.  We will also set up backside tours during the season to try and give members a glimpse of life on the backstretch.

The number of members will determine the number of horses we will claim.  Clay Brinson, the outstanding trainer that worked with the Club last year has signed on board for another season and, if the demand is enough for additional horses, Canterbury Park Hall of Famer Bernell Rhone will also train for the team.

Interested folks can fill out the 2013 Club Enrollment Form to get started.  We’ll be taking memberships into March, but the sooner we know the size of the group, the better we can plan our strategy. 

 

I’m very happy to be a part of the Club this year, but I’m even happier that Canterbury Park has taken such a pro-active role to get new owners into the game.  It’s a model worth emulating.