Canterbury Park will kick off the 2019 Quarter Horse meet on Memorial Day weekend during the track’s 25th anniversary season.

© Coady Photography

SHAKOPEE, MN—MAY 24, 2019 —Canterbury Park will kick off the 2019 Quarter Horse meet on Memorial Day weekend during the track’s 25th anniversary season. The first scheduled races are four trials for the $57,325 Gopher State Derby, now an open stake for 3-year-olds.

The 2019 Canterbury Park Quarter Horse stakes schedule comprises 17 stakes worth over $700,000 and is highlighted by the $150,000-estimated Mystic Lake Northlands Futurity. The richest race of the Quarter Horse meet anchors a seven stakes race card worth over $400,000 on July 7.

“This is the Fastest Day in Minnesota Sports,” senior director of racing Andrew Offerman said. “Minnesota quarter horse racing has produced some very solid runners in recent years and deserves a showcase like this. We will feature the best and fastest quarter horses on a single day competing for the biggest purses Canterbury Park offers.”

As part of the July 7 card, Canterbury also will host three AQHA Challenge Championship regional qualifiers: the $20,000-added AQHA Canterbury Park Distance Challenge, the $25,000-added ARC Canterbury Park Distaff Challenge, and the $45,000-added Bank of America Canterbury Park Championship Challenge. The winners of two of the last three editions of the Canterbury Park Championship Challenge, Ajs High and The Fiscal Cliff, each won the Bank of America Challenge Championship (G1) in their respective years.

The schedule includes opportunities for open stakes company as well as those restricted to Minnesota-bred horses. Last year, the track offered the inaugural $25,000-guaranteed North Star State Stakes for 3-year-old and up Minnesota-breds. In 2019, the track will add another new restricted race, the $20,000-guaranteed Cam Casby Stakes, for Minnesota-bred 2-year-olds.

The 66-day mixed meet began on Friday, May 3 and will continue through September 14. Quarter Horse races are held at the beginning of each card from Memorial Day weekend through mid-August.