Canterbury Park offered its richest purse ever for a single race at the track on Saturday. The $161,000 Mystic Lake Derby was the first significant event since the horse track partnered with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. Last month, the owners of Mystic Lake Casino agreed to pay $75 million over the next decade to boost racing purses at Canterbury Park. In exchange, the racetrack will drop its longstanding push to add slot machines. Hammers Terror won the inaugural race, with jockey Lori Keith in the saddle.

The 62-day live racing season gets underway on May 18 at the Shakopee race track. The Business Journal reports the opening weekend will feature two $35,000 stakes races for Minnesota-bred horses.

The Star Tribune reports the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and the Canterbury Park horse-racing track have reached a 10-year agreement. The deal calls for the tribe, which operates the nearby Mystic Lake Casino, to contribute tens of millions of dollars to Canterbury purses. In exchange, owners of the racetrack in Shakopee agree to end their pursuit to add slot machines and help block efforts to expand gambling in the Twin Cities metro area.

The average attendance for the 62-day live racing season at the Shakopee racetrack was 6,595 -- a new record at Canterbury Park, the Shakopee Patch writes. That's up 7.3 percent compared to last summer -- which was 6 days shorter because of the state government shutdown. The amount of money wagered was also up 25 percent this year.

The Minnesota Racing Commission will hold a special meeting next week in Shakopee to discuss the proposed deal. The Mdewakanton Sioux Community has agreed to pay $75 million over the next decade to boost racing purses at Canterbury Park. In exchange, the racetrack would drop its longstanding push to add slot machines and help block any plans to expand gambling in the Twin Cities. The agreement needs approval from the Racing Commission.