On the groomed front stretch of the track at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, a riderless horse wore a handwritten sign across his withers that said, simply: "Let me run."
Hundreds of racetrack workers, family members and politicians rallied at the horse track Wednesday in an attempt to get it reopened after two weeks of state shutdown.
They also pushed for an overhaul in state gambling policy that would allow "racino" gambling at the track.
"This is criminal," said Rosemary Higgins, a quarter-horse owner from Princeton who was carrying her own sign: "My horse needs a job!"
"My horse pays its way with its winnings and needs to work," she said. "It costs me $50 a day just to keep training, there's vet bills, the farrier. I could go out of state, but I'm not ready to give up yet."
Track officials say that more than 1,000 Canterbury workers have been laid off and that eight of the track's 62 racing days already have been lost to the shutdown.
Canterbury Park and Running Aces in the north metro are regulated by the Minnesota Racing Commission, a state agency. Even though the tracks pay for the costs of regulation and have paid those bills through the end of the month, a judge ruled that the state agency must close, forcing the tracks to shut down.
With the legal ruling against the tracks already handed down and racino proposals having received lukewarm receptions at the Capitol, the Canterbury rally attendees were facing a steep uphill battle.
