On Sunday, August 9th, M and I went with Tanya and Chris to Canterbury Park in Shakopee to watch horse racing. Not only did the horses race, it was their annual extreme day so there was also a camel and ostrich race, which was very interesting to see. The only person in our party that had been to Canterbury was M, but that in 1985-1986 when he was around 11 years old so that doesn't really count.
We felt like a bunch of goons walking around there at first because none of us really knew what to do or where to go. After walking through a canopy with some old cars in it and having an opening on the side that was gravel path, I told everyone to come down and follow me down the path to look at the grass horse I saw. After getting 10 steps down the path, security came and got us and told us that we couldn't go down there because that's where the horses come out. Great, we're off to a good start! Oh, and when I say security, I mean a 70+ year old lady, who nicely escorted us back to the path most traveled.
We had no idea as to how to bet on horses and none of us are gamblers. We received a quick lesson and after doing it once, it was easy. I bet $2 on the first race (they have races about every 30 minutes) for "place" and won $5.60. Here are the betting options:
- Win: You pick the correct horse to win the race
- Place: You pick the correct horse to place 1st or 2nd in the race
- Show: You pick the correct horse to place 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the race
I'm sure there are other betting options but that's all I learned. Obviously the payout is more if you pick a horse to win vs. show but it also depends on the odds, which are constantly changing as more people bet on the different horses. M and Chris both bet on the same race, on the same horse and won $28 and $23, on a $5 and $4 bet, respectively.
The day was extremely HOT. Not only was it hot, it was PACKED. Neither of us knew the difference in attendance from one day to the next but Canterbury said they have record attendance that day. I think it is a great place to go and would love to go back sometime and I would bet that we'll go at least once a summer.
The "Forbidden" area. I just wanted to see the grass horse!
Yes, I know there are two people completely in the way of this picture. Look at the video screen in the background...it's all pixelated. It wasn't like that in person but every time I took a picture it did that. Someone explain that to me.
Click to enlarge the picture (all of them!)
The Ostriches! They don't look the happiest when ridden, but then again, I'm not sure what a happy ostrich looks like.
The "bugle guy" with Paul Allen, the voice at Canterbury and coincidentally the radio voice of the Minnesota Vikings
3 comments:
Looks like a good time! I haven't been to the horse track in probably 20 years. I want to check out Running Aces, it is pretty close to me and I hear they have good food ;
It's been like 7 years since Tom and I went there. We had a blast too, I'm suprised we haven't gone back since. Tom knows about horse betting and I remember we bet like $20 and won $200. One of these days I wanted to take Gramma there (Falconer :))
Dana, You and Michael will have to come up here to Running Aces (next year now, as the horse races are done for the season)! We went a couple times, and we like it! It's a fairly cheap way to bet, we have won a bit (Greg won 67 bucks). We will keep you in mind next April when they start up again!
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