Canterbury Park To Reopen Thursday

SHAKOPEE  (AP) - With the Minnesota government shutdown over, Canterbury Park in Shakopee plans to reopen Thursday morning.

President and CEO Randy Sampson says the doors will open at 10 a.m. for the card casino, simulcast racing will start around midday and live racing will return at 7 p.m. for the first time in three weeks.

Canterbury laid off about 1,000 employees when the shutdown began July 1. Sampson says their lives were turned upside down, and it cost horse owners and jockeys well over $1 million in purse money.

Sampson also says publicly traded Canterbury Park Holding Corp. took "a very significant hit" to its revenues but hasn't determined yet what the impact on earnings will be.

The Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus also plans to reopen at 10 a.m. Thursday.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)