It’s been a while since we last touched base and I hope you all are doing well and had a good summer!

In case you missed it – and I know I did, thanks to partner Darlene for noticing – our former horse, Brilliant Belle, had one of her babies win here on Closing night.

In the 12th race, breaking from post 8, Citrus Bay, under Eduardo Gallardo, broke sharply and fought for the lead about 1/2 mile into the 6-furlong race and then kicked clear late to win at 24-1 for trainer Santiago Tranquilino.

In case you don’t recall, the 2017 Club claimed Belle at Oaklawn in a $12,500 race. She came back at Oaklawn and finished 6th before coming to Canterbury and winning a starter allowance at 13-1. At the time, that was the highest payout for Club horse until Lilfeatheredindian scored at 46-1 in 2020. She was able to win one more time at Canterbury and a third at Churchill before being retired

Citrus Bay was foaled in 2019 in Arkansas and was sired by Hightail.

SIDE NOTE: The Next Level Group is open for new members for about a week, so if you missed the first time and want to jump in, now is the time. Drop Ted a note at: ted@grevelisracing.com for the particulars.

If you’re interested in being a part of the Next Level Canterbury Group (click for the details), you have seven days left to sign up before the group closes. The Group is limited to 40 participants and you can inquire about the sign-up process by emailing Ted Grevelis at ted@grevelisracing.com.

If you’re interested in the Wasabi/Canterbury Club, you have about 3 weeks left to sign up (April 15).

Don’t wait too long and end up being shut out of the 2021 season!

There are only TWO WEEKS left if you want to join the Next Level Canterbury Group (March 31) and a little less than a month to join up with the Wasabi Ventures’ Canterbury Club (April 15).

The previous two posts highlight the goals and benefits of each group. We’ll remind you again in a week as we count down towards the 2021 racing season! Don’t get shut out!

The day has finally arrived – The Wasabi Ventures Canterbury Racing Club and the Next Level Canterbury Group are open to new members!!

To briefly recap (you can get more details from a previous post here or the contact people below)

Wasabi Stables Canterbury Club ($250): Wasabi raced at Canterbury last year for the first time and hit the board in five out of six starts racing out of the Tony Rengstorf barn.  Wasabi currently has racehorses competing throughout the Midwest and on the East Coast. They have major expansion plans outlined for Canterbury in 2021.  Wasabi has over 600 partners who have created a community that is both social and educational.  They will be partnering with our club with a 25% stake in all club horses.  This means more horses, more opportunities, and more fun for all involved.

As in past years, there will be absolutely no bills or other payments to be made after the initial one-time payment. When the horse ends its club racing career or is sold, the bills come out of the initial payment you made, but you will never be required to pay any additional funds.  Any profits, or gains from the disposition of horses, will go immediately and directly into your very own Wasabi account for your personal use to buy more horses or withdraw.

Next Level Canterbury Group ($1000): The group’s horse acquisition budget will be based upon the total balance less three months expenses (approximately $7,500) on hand. For example, if 20 people sign up, our horse budget will be $12,500.

As part of being actual owners, should the cash balance become insufficient to cover expenses, members will be required to contribute additional cash to cover three months of bills.  If the balance exceeds three months expenses, the overage can be returned to members at the end a quarter based upon a vote so there is potential for return on your investment as well as the risk.

The group does not automatically disband at the end of the calendar year and we can let the horse take us as far as he or she can.

Members will be licensed by the Minnesota Racing Commission at a cost of $50 for license and $25 for fingerprints (required of all owners). The group will most likely be organized as an LLC.

For more information or to sign up:

Wasabi Ventures Canterbury Club: click here or email Joe Scurto (joe.scurto@racehorseminnesota.com). They will be looking to close up on April 15, 2021.

Next Level Group: email Ted at ted@grevelisracing.com. You can join the email discussion group with no commitment and get all the details and get to know the folks that’ll be in your group before deciding! Next Level will be buttoning things up by March 31 and start shopping on April 1. LIMITED TO THE FIRST 40 PEOPLE.

The moment has finally arrived to launch the 2021 Racing Club and there are some big and exciting changes.  Today’s post applies to EXISTING (2020) members.  There will be another post soon for folks that wish to join the Club for the first time – the basic outline here is the same but the sign up procedure will be different.

The short version is that we are presenting to you two options. One is a new venture led by Ted Grevelis that takes you deeper into a partnership group. The second is more like the traditional racing club but with a new structure administered by Wasabi Stables.

Without further ado, here are the particulars.

Wasabi Stables-led Canterbury Racing Club

We are pleased to announce that we will be partnering with national group ownership Wasabi Stables in 2021 for the Canterbury Racing Club.  Wasabi raced at Canterbury last year for the first time and hit the board in five out of six starts racing out of the Tony Rengstorf barn.  Wasabi currently has racehorses competing throughout the Midwest and on the East Coast. They have major expansion plans outlined for Canterbury in 2021.  Wasabi has over 600 partners who have created a community that is both social and educational.  They will be partnering with our club with a 25% stake in all club horses.  This means more horses, more opportunities, and more fun for all involved.

As in past years, there will be absolutely no bills or other payments to be made after the initial one-time payment. When the horse ends its club racing career or is sold, the bills come out of the initial payment you made, but you will never be required to pay any additional funds.  Any profits, or gains from the disposition of horses, will go immediately and directly into your very own Wasabi account for your personal use to buy more horses or withdraw.

The other benefits you have come to appreciate with past club membership like free season passes, stable tours, and on-track events will still be part of the program (pending any COVID-19 restrictions for 2021). These will be coordinated and run by Wasabi Stables.

If you are currently a Clubber and wish to remain in the club with Wasabi directing it, an account will be established for you with a $200 credit from last year’s club distribution.  The club participation cost will remain at $250 so you will need to add $50 or more to your account to purchase a Canterbury Park Club share or shares via the Wasabi website.

Take some time to visit the Wasabi website and social media pages on Facebook and Twitter. That will give you a feel of the other participation opportunities like breeding, buying yearlings, and stallion programs Wasabi can offer.

For more information on the Canterbury Racing Club/Wasabi Ventures group, please contact Joe Scurto at joe.scurto@racehorseminnesota.com and visit their special Canterbury Club page to sign up here: https://www.wasabistables.com/canterbury-park/sign-up.

‘Next Level Canterbury Group’

We’re once again pleased to offer the next step up in racing ownership. It’s something we haven’t done in a few years and it’s time to do it again!

Outside of the micro-fractional groups, most traditional partnerships tend to cost around $2000-$3000 for a share in a smaller partnership or national syndicate.  This ‘mid-level’ group will allow folks to get in a lower price point but become more a part of actual ownership.

Membership level is a $1000 initial commitment ($800 plus $200 credit form 2020 Club)

Membership will not exceed 40 individuals and we’ll be looking at a minimum of 15.

The group’s horse acquisition budget will be based upon the total balance less three months expenses (approximately $7,500) on hand. For example, if 20 people sign up, our horse budget will be $12,500.

As part of being actual owners, should the cash balance become insufficient to cover expenses, members will be required to contribute additional cash to cover three months of bills.  If the balance exceeds three months expenses, the overage can be returned to members at the end a quarter based upon a vote so there is potential for return on your investment as well as the risk.

Unlike when we were Clubbers, the group does not automatically disband at the end of the calendar year and we can let the horse take us as far as he or she can.

Members will be licensed by the Minnesota Racing Commission at a cost of $50 for license and $25 for fingerprints (required of all owners). The group will most likely be organized as an LLC.

Ted Grevelis will direct this group so please contact Ted for additional details on membership, trainers, acquisitions, communication methods and all questions at ted@grevelisracing.com.

Please let Jeff know if you are re-upping with Wasabi, the Next Level Group or will be opting out by February 26 at jmaday@canterburypark.com.

We will be using this method of communication for the next few weeks until transition is made to Wasabi.  The Club Facebook and Twitter feeds will convert over to the Next Level Group – though everyone will be encouraged to follow their progress as well. No decision has been made on the future of the blog at this time.

Good luck this year everyone!

I know everyone is looking forward to the Club unveiling and news but we’re not quite there yet – though we are getting closer. In the interim, we wanted to pass along information on the 7th National Thoroughbred Owner Conference.

The series was developed by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to try and give owners more information a bigger voice in the industry. The Conference is usually held on site at a major racing venue over several days. This year, for the first time, it is being held on-line and is free to join. All you need to do is register on the page below.

Instead of being a one time, multi-day event, it is going to be held as a series of nine Zoom seminars on the first Tuesday of each month starting on March 2.

Take a look and register if you like. They promise to be wide ranging and informative. Attend as many or as few as interest you.

Seventh National Thoroughbred Owner Conference | Thoroughbred OwnerView

As we round past Hanukkah and barrel into Christmas (along with heavy snow and a blizzard warning for a large part of Minnesota!), we at the Club would like to wish all of our members, friends, family and followers a healthy and happy holiday season and, especially, a soft end of 2020 and a glorious beginning to 2021!

In January we will unveil a “new look” Club and another opportunity for folks that may want more than the Club experience. We have not finalized all the details but we will be working through the holidays to cross the i and ts and and bring you an announcement as soon as possible after the New Year.

While there is not a lot to share at this time, we’re excited about the possibilities and opportunities these will bring to Clubbers – returning and new members alike.

Please be safe through the holidays and we’ll see you on the other side.

There is some finality and some uncertainty as we move forward, closing up 2020 and looking ahead to 2021.

First let’s do the final accounting for 2020 (spreadsheet attached).

We started the year with 127 members (remember we couldn’t have new members this year) and we finished the year with $25,099.40 or

Drum Roll…..

$197.63 per member!

Not bad! Another win and we may have got to break even. A great job from the Litfin barn getting us a Maiden Special Weight win out of an inexpensive filly, Lilfeatheredindian, who tuned out to have quite a heart (and quite an ROI on our wagering!). Also a great job from the Broberg barn with two wins right off the claim AND making money when Satellite was claimed from us for $1000 more than what we paid.

Also our appreciation to Alonso Quinones, Kelsi Harr, Ry Eikleberry and Betty Jo Williams for riding our horses.

Personally, I’d like to thank each and every one of you for being a part of the Club during a very trying and challenging year. I’m glad we could have many of you out to the track, get you some winners’ circle photos and, hopefully, still had a fun year. However I greatly missed the backside tours and the morning get togethers when I have an opportunity to get to know you all better and we can really feel part of the group.

Going forward the road is a little murky, but we’re looking at how best to tweak the Club in 2021. A BIG part of this is a survey that should have popped into your email today. Please let us know your thoughts – this will go a long way in determining what the Club will look like next year. There is a section to be able to write out your thoughts so if you have any ideas, please go ahead and write out your thoughts if you’d like. Also, some of you that follow along but are no longer Club members could get the survey as well – we really do want your input too.

My (Ted) role is yet to be determined simply because we don’t know what the Club will look like – nothing malicious at all. Jeff, myself and others will put our heads together and see what we can come up with which may or may not include my further participation.

The only reason I even bring it up is because should I depart I may not have the opportunity to thank you all for an absolutely wonderful experience. The last seven years (!) have been great. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you all and sharing my passion for racing and Canterbury Park – easily the best part of the gig! Should I not be part of the Club, I will still be at the track every day running our own groups’ horses, covering the racing and, as always, available to you all via e-mail ted@grevelisracing.com.

Watch this space for more information. After the surveys are returned, tabulated and analyzed, the goal is to get this done and announce the 2021 season at the end of the month/early December so we can be ready for your holiday season gift giving needs!

Unfortunately there was not a race for Lil the last couple of days of the meet. We could have tried her against the boys in a $10,000 turf sprint or over the dirt against the girls. We toyed with that last one, but it was not a conditioned race meaning that older horses that have won numerous times would be involved in the contest. As a 3-year old, unproven against winners as well as not as good on dirt as she is on turf, meant that she was not going to have much of a chance and we’d be running just for running’s sake. That’s not really fair to the group and certainly isn’t fair to her.

The choices that remain are we can either go to Kentucky and ship into Ohio (She won’t be competitive at Keeneland) or try and get her sold. It is likely that we’ll take the selling route with her, but Nevada and I will discuss this weekend and see what kind of options we have.

What really hurts is the cancellation of racing at Turf Paradise. She’d be a nice filly down there and be able to compete really well all winter. That could end up depressing the possible price on her.

We will hopefully have some news next week on what we’ll do with her as well as start to wrap up the financials and do a wrap up of a unique season. Off the top of my head, I think if we could have picked up one more win we would have ended the 2020 Club in the black.