Canterbury Park warns steep drop in horse numbers is shrinking live racing; commissioners discuss legislative brief

Canterbury Park officials told the Minnesota Racing Commission on Oct. 16 at the Nutrina Conference Center that a sharp decline in the number of race-ready thoroughbreds and reduced purse supplements have left the meet struggling to field full races and maintain wagering.

Randy Sampson, speaking for Canterbury Park, summarized the season and its challenges, saying the meet was “haunted” by “a trifecta of issues” — heat, rain and wildfire smoke — but that the deeper problem this year was a smaller horse population. “In 2022…we had almost 1,100 different thoroughbred horses race at Canterbury. And this year, that number was 672,” Sampson said, attributing the decline to broader reductions in foal crops and industry cycles.

The decline in horses, Sampson and quarter-horse racing secretary Amber Carlisle said, has pushed average field sizes down and forced the track to run fewer races per day to try to preserve purse levels and competitive fields. Sampson noted that the share of races with five horses or fewer rose to about 19% this season after improvements last year; he said that in 2023 that figure had been 24% and the…