Canterbury Downs Expected to Open on Time

There is no reason to think that Canterbury Downs will not open on schedule April 27, says the chairman of the Minnesota Racing Commission.

“I think it will occur on time. I don’t think the opening is in jeopardy at all,” Chairman Ralph Strangis said Tuesday.

Strangis made the remarks in response to questions about continuing negotiations between the track’s new owners, Bernard Hartman and Herbert Tyner, and its prospective operator, the Ladbroke Racing Corp.

Neither side has given any indication when they expect to complete those negotiations.

“What you have to realize in something this large is that on any given day negotiations may be going well or not going so well,” Strangis said.

Strangis and Dick Krueger, the commission’s executive director, said that a public hearing will be held as scheduled Monday night at Shakopee Senior High School to consider license applications for the track’s new owners and operators.

State law does not require that negotiations be completed or an agreement signed before the public hearing is held. A deal will have to be signed before either group can be licensed, however.

The racing commission is scheduled to meet on April 23 to discuss the granting of licenses.

“We could do both, have the public hearing and grant licenses, on the same day if we wanted,” Strangis said. “We’ve allowed an extra week to give people a chance to respond after the hearing if they need time to do so.”

Strangis also said that background investigations on Tyner and Hartman and Ladbroke have turned up nothing that would prevent them from being licensed.

“You could almost assume that since they’re licensed in other states they could be licensed here, too,” Strangis said.

Pat Shannon, the commission’s director of security, has led the background investigations. “We’re probably 80% finished and have found nothing that would present a problem,” he said. “But it will be up to the full commission to make that decision once they’ve reviewed the information we provide them.”

Doug Eichten, Canterbury’s vice president of marketing, said that Ladbroke’s plans are to open April 27. “We don’t see anything that would put that in jeopardy,” Eichten said.

Canterbury will open the stable area for arriving horses on Thursday. The track will open for training on Monday.

Shannon said that the commission will begin licensing track employees on Thursday. That same process will begin on Saturday for horsemen and their employees.