gambling

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 Gambling Control Board has unanimously approved guidelines for new hand-held gambling devices in Minnesota bars and restaurants. Electronic pull-tabs and bingo games are being introduced to help fund the new Minnesota Vikings stadium in downtown Minneapolis. The board also approved a Las Vegas-based gambling equipment vendor to make the electronic devices.

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.

Minnesota Public Radio reports gambling control board executive director Tom Barrett says his staff already has an application from a distributor of the machines and he expects more to come. Thousands of Minnesota bars and restaurants will soon be eligible to offer the gambling machines to their patrons.

The legislation will allow more card tables at Minnesota's two horse tracks and boost the betting limits. The deal also gives Minnesota's tribal casinos access to simulcast horse racing. The amendments are effective immediately.

House lawmakers gave the legislation final-approve Monday. If the measure is signed into law, it would allow more card tables at Canterbury Park and higher betting limits. It would also give tribal casinos access to simulcast horse racing. Dayton says he needs time to study the bill before making a decision.