Heat cancels holiday racing at Canterbury Park

by Jon Collins, Minnesota Public Radio

Canterbury Park has canceled its racing schedule and other events planned for the Fourth of July.

Spokesman Jeff Maday says the cancellation ensures the safety of animals and spectators. "We decided, after consulting with the state and with the horsemen, that the best decision was to be safe and to cancel the race," Maday says. "We were supposed to start at 1:30, so the temperature was going to be in the upper 90s at that point and go up from there."

Maday says promotional events like a hot dog eating contest will be rescheduled for Saturday. Canterbury's fireworks display was going ahead as scheduled Tuesday night.