Canterbury Park’s 2025 horse racing meet will begin May 24 under an agreement approved Thursday by the Minnesota Racing Commission.
Canterbury Park’s request for shorter horse racing meet in 2025 is approved
Canterbury Park will start a week later, end a week earlier and include 51 days of competition, down from 54 in 2024.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
December 20, 2024 at 2:27AM
The Racing Commission approved a 51-day horse racing season in 2025, concluding Sept. 20, as proposed by Canterbury Park. That’s three days shorter than in 2024, with racing starting a week later and ending a week earlier.
Most racing will be on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays; starting times will be 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays and 1 p.m. on Sundays. Post times for the final week of live racing will be 4 p.m.
Thursday racing will be scheduled on six dates: July 3, 10 and 24, Aug. 7 and 21 and Sept. 18; it will begin at 5 p.m.
The 2025 schedule will include a nine-day break from racing, from July 14 to July 22.
The shortened schedule was agreed upon by track management and the Minnesota Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association, which represents thoroughbred racehorse owners and trainers.
The expiration in December 2022 of a decade-long deal with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is tied to the shorter meet. It led to a large drop in Canterbury’s purse fund in 2023 and to lessened betting interest because of small race fields.
The 2024 meet ticked up, with a 13 percent increase in betting handle and a 13 percent increase in thoroughbred field size over 2023.
A first-quarter lead became a 22-point deficit by halftime, and moments in the second half gave fans chances to vent frustration.
