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Ode To The Place That Made Me



Some people say that your home should tell the story of who you are and be a collection of what you love and hold most dear, well to me my home has always been at Canterbury Park. I yearned for those summers every single day of my young life I literally had a countdown started on my phone from the moment the meet closed for the winter. It was the one thing that kept me going through those long tough winters in school, It helped me discover so many things about myself and taught me so many life lessons. It was the place that really shaped who I became.


My first experience at Canterbury Park actually happened before I could walk or even form memories, My Mom and Dad knew someone who worked at Canterbury and through that connection, we were able to get a photo in the winners circle. I was just a young child in the photo and I didn't even look at the camera, but it was just the beginning of my long future with Canterbury Park. Fittingly the horse that won the race we got the photo for was named Feathers of Hope which is exactly what Canterbury, and horse racing has given me throughout my young life.


From that time on My family made it a priority to go to the track at least once a summer. The early years of my time at the races was spent running around the playground or petting the lead ponies. I didn't start actually following horse racing until I watched the Kentucky Derby for the first time in 2004 when Smarty Jones won and took all of America on a magical ride where he almost took down the Triple Crown if it weren’t for that pesky Birdstone in the Belmont Stakes. That is when the proverbial floodgates opened and I began reading absolutely everything I could get my hands on about horse racing. I soon demanded to go to the track at least once a week and with Canterbury being so close to our house it just added fuel to my fiery passion for horse racing.


In 2007 those passions were centered on the chestnut beast that was Curlin and one night I overheard Dark Star talking on the radio about Derby horses. On a whim and with some positive reinforcement from my Dad I called in to the radio station. Dark was very patient as I rambled on about Curlin and why I loved him. After I finished explaining my love for Curlin Dark asked me how old I was, (which at the time I was 12) he then invited me to broadcast with him at Canterbury Park on Derby day. We went and from then on it became a standing gig until 2009 when Dark left WCCO to work for KFAN. That experience allowed me to met some incredible people who have always been supportive of me and my endeavors at Canterbury Park including Kevin Gorg and Randy Sampson. Though many thought I should've headed towards a career in broadcast my heart always belonged to the horses. I counted down the days till I turned 16, so I could start working on the backside. When that time came I knew Canterbury was the first and best option for me to continue chasing my dream of working with racehorses.


The summer after I turned 16 I walked onto that backside bright and early and went barn to barn trying to find a job. I handed out my resume to as many trainers as I could hoping one would hire me, I was hired for one week but was fired soon after due to a serious car accident that left me with a terribly bruised sternum and some stitches in my knees. I had almost given up hope, but thankfully one of the grooms at that barn knew how much I really wanted to work with racehorses and he pointed me in the direction of Gary Scherer. I started hotwalking for Gary and I worked for him every summer from 2012-2016. He put up with a lot of my crazy antics and was patient with my lack of knowledge and gave me an opportunity that I will forever be grateful for. I cherished those early mornings and late nights and soaked up absolutely everything I could. Through working for Gary I made many lifelong friends who I'm thankful to say are some of the best friends I've ever had. Those summers were jammed packed with work, races, and hanging out with my track friends. I like to joke and say that those were my college years because that's honestly what it was like. I not only made great human friends but I also made some great horse friends who I'll never forget. Working with the horses at Canterbury is when I discovered that I needed to be around these animals in some capacity for the rest of my life. I left the Canterbury Park backside for the last time as a worker in 2016 because I knew if I wanted to really take a shot at working with top class horses I needed to move to Kentucky. I packed my bags and moved To Kentucky in December 2016.


I haven't gone to the races at Canterbury since I left in 2016 and I've missed it everyday since I left that backside for the last time. Canterbury Park has been the most important place for me and my career, and facilitated my journey to see horse racing at its highest level on stages like Churchill Downs and Keeneland. With that however they just don't have the same feel as Canterbury for me. Canterbury is where I learned how to manage these wonderful athletes , Where I learned how to be responsible, where I learned that early mornings are never bad when you get to work with horses, where I grew up, where I made most of my lifelong friends, where I learned some hard life lessons, and where I discovered my love and need to work in the field of horse racing. Canterbury is never far from my heart as I have the logo tattooed on my forearm to always remind me of all the amazing, and wonderful memories I have of the track. As I begin packing for my trip home for the first time in almost two years I know the first place I'll head after I unpack my car at my parents house will be Canterbury Park, and when I walk through those front gates at Canterbury I know I'll feel at home once again.

The Canterbury Tattoo






My first winner I ever groomed 
Even got my senior photos done at the track


Spent a lot of time enjoying this view at Canterbury

Paddocking horses was one of my favorite parts of my job



First photo of me at Canterbury




Nothing quite like bringing home a winner


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