I live about 45 minutes from
Canterbury Park racetrack in Shakopee, MN. I was never really into the
horse races to be honest. I would go to Canterbury to play blackjack and four-card
poker. One day I finally made my way out to the track with some friends and
watched my first race. I didn’t bet but I looked in fascination at how many
people were rooting when the horses came around the final turn. “How long until
the next race?” I asked a friend, and he told me that we had to wait an upwards
of 20 minutes. “Twenty Minutes?!” I exclaimed, “Come on, let’s go play
blackjack, I don’t want to waste twenty minutes out here.”
Trips to Canterbury came more and
more frequent with co-workers and friends and I started watching more and more
races when I was there. Canterbury had televisions at the blackjack tables and
so I could play and then get up when the races were starting and heading back
out on the track. Now as a new player to the racetrack, I rarely put more than
$2 on a race. Seems silly when I was putting $5-15 on each hand of blackjack
inside, but I knew nothing about horse races and so I wasn’t willing to gamble
any money. My buddy Adam said that his aunt and uncle were part owners of a
horse, and so we decided to come down the next time the horse would race.
July 14th, 2013 arrived
and off we were to the racetrack. Still not a clue how to read PP’s or
workouts, (I still barely do, but I am getting better) but I knew that Dean
Butler was the jockey of my choice. My first time I went to the races, Dean
ALWAYS was winning. I started putting $2 to win on every horse that he raced
because I was becoming that confident in him as a jockey. My other piece of advice came from my buddy
Jeff. He told me that if I wasn’t confident what horse to bet, to always bet
number 4. Now that just seems crazy and he was probably just trying to joke
around since I was new at the track, but I took the advice anyways.
We watched races 1-6 as Paul Allen
(Radio Voice of the Minnesota Vikings) called the races and always started with
“anddddd we’reeeeee racccccccing” as they left the gate. As race 7 approached,
we met up with Adam’s aunt and uncle and headed out to the paddock. We go over
to spot number 4 where T Thomas was going to be and waited for the horses to
come around the circle. I realized that I never even looked who the Jockey was
going to be, but at this point I was just happy to be in the paddock with
owners of this horse, and to be enjoying a day at the races. The horses go
around the track once without a jockey and then the jockey jumps on as they
head out to the starting gate. The jockey comes out and of course, It’s DEAN! I
was excited before, but now I couldn’t wait to get to the booth to bet on T
Thomas. He was number 4 AND Dean was riding him? He couldn’t lose, right?
Now like I said, I was still super
new to the races, and so betting anything more than $2 was still a scary thing
for me to do. The stars were aligned though, and so I took a $20 bill up to the
booth and asked for a $6 WPS on T Thomas and then took my $2 change and headed
out to watch the race. We sat with the rest of T Thomas’s owners and settled in
for the race. I opened up my program and saw that T Thomas didn’t have the best
track record. There was something I did see though, he was a closer. Race 7
started with Paul Allen yelling his legendary line and the 1 mile 70 yard race
began. T Thomas left the gate at 3-1 and was right to the back at the beginning
of the race. No one seemed worried though. Even money Moses on the Mesa took
the early lead and wasn’t looking back. Halfway through the race, she had a 5
length lead, and T Thomas was at the back of the pack. Still, none of the
owners seemed worried even as my heart was racing faster than the horses on the track.
As the final turn approached, T
Thomas broke to the outside and pushed up into 4th place. Still a
ton of ground to cover. I heard one of the owners say, “T Thomas is going to
win.” I know he owned part of the horse and everything, but come on man, your
horse still is in 4th and the race is almost over…
Anne Van Rosen had Moses on the
Mesa on the rail but she looked tired. Even money probably wasn’t going to do
it today. She was fighting with Brother Dudeleo (10/1) but neither of them saw
T Thomas. I remember T Thomas shake his head a little bit as Paul Allen
exclaims “Erratic T Thomas losing ground.” No way I was ever seeing that $18
again.
All of a sudden out of nowhere, T
Thomas takes off. Dean and T Thomas are closing in. My heart is pumping, I am
out of my seat. Could it be?
“AND HERE COMES T THOMAS” exclaims
Paul Allen as the horse finishes the finish line. I am jumping up and down, I
am high-fiving anyone around me, even though I didn’t know who they were. As we
made our way down to the Winner’s Circle for the photo, I remember my
excitement to this day. It wasn’t for the money that I won or for the beautiful
weather. It was for the day that I got to spend at the track, and I knew right
there that this was the reason that I loved this game.
Over the rest of the summer I
watched T Thomas get sold and watched him win a couple more races. At 22 years
old, I had never loved an animal more than I loved T Thomas. The summer ended
and so did the races, but I will never forget that day. On May 16th,
2014 the races open back up at Canterbury, and I know I will be one of the
first ones in the gate.
Below is a picture that I took of
Canterbury Park Paddock over the winter. A beautiful place to visit if you ever
make it out to Minnesota. I recommend coming during the extreme racing day where you can watch Camels and even Zebras race. A great experience for anyone and their family at a relatively cheap entrance fee!
