THE CANTERBURY REPORT

As I move forward with my career in the horse racing industry I am looking to make a stamp on thoroughbred racing in Minnesota. Some people call me Dr. Dan, some people just Dan. It's pretty obvious that pari-mutuel wagering is suffering everywhere in the country. There is talk of Hollywood Park closing following their meets in 2009. They handle millions of dollars a day compared to Canterbury's less than a million handle. Canterbury Park has established itself over the past decade and has some of the best racing in the midwest. It is too bad the state has not not permitted them to install slot machines to save the sport. It's tough to compete with the other midwest tracks that have slot machines because horsemen would rather race for higher purse amounts at those tracks. Therefore, we do not get the horses we could possibly be getting. There is no reason in this size of a metro area that we can't compete with Arlington in the Summer. The amount of money that is gambled by Minnesotan's at Native American casino's is astounding and if just a percentage of that went to the horse racing industry it would be well worth the risk by the state.

Canterbury Park has done so much for the economy here in Minnesota since the Sampson family inherited it in the early 1990's. They have done exactly what the original owners could not, they have established an industry within the state. Minnesota does not breed horses like other states, but it has many people at work, making an income and that is exactly what this economy needs.

Running Aces in the Columbus, MN has made no attempts to grow the standardbred industry in Minnesota. They could ask for tax breaks due to their millions of dollars in losses, but I would not give it to them. I tried as a low-level employee to inform as many people as I could that if they did not improve their relationship with the racing industry in Minnesota than they would never succeed. The same thing happened to Canterbury Downs back in the 1980's. As a new track, I tried to instill a lot of the information that I had from what I learned at Canterbury Park. Their management team is oblivious to what's going on around them. They have one thought on their mind and it is the "Card Room". Granted that it is the primary source of income, but they are negligent to the horseplayers that come in and spend thousands every week. They have not established one, big player because they don't listen. There mutuels manager is young and has an ego that would get most people fired. He knows nothing about racing and nothing about Minnesota. When they let me go, they lost their one chance for survival. I can't believe that Running Aces will make it past 2010. They through a lot of money into the place without a thought about horse racing. The set-up is terrible. If Canterbury Park paid for self-wagering systems they would have no benefits over going to Canterbury. Now that Running Aces has established their points system I am hoping Canterbury will take the next step in ordering the same systems from Scientific Games. Many of the major horseplayers like them because they do not have to wait in lines and can get a printout for all their bets made at the end of the day. Other than that Running Aces has nothing comparable to what Canterbury offers the everyday horseplayer. They don't have a race-replays machine, they don't have an information booth, they rely on their tellers to know everything about racing when it's not their job, their only decent handicapping tournaments were created by me, basically they have nothing to entice you to go there.

Summed up shortly, GO TO CANTERBURY PARK..... The Best and Brightest Simulcasting Facility in Minnesota. Hands Down