Canterbury Park adds Pete Mattson and McArdle to Hall of Fame

Canterbury Park expanded its Hall of Fame class with three names that map directly onto the track’s working history: owner Pete Mattson, former chief veterinarian and Minnesota Racing Commission chair Dr. Camille McArdle, and quarter horse Dickey Bob. The inductees will be honored July 24 at the Shakopee track, keeping the ceremony tied to the same racing strip where their contributions helped shape the meet.

Mattson’s place in the class recognizes the owner’s side of the sport, while McArdle represents the regulatory and veterinary backbone that keeps a racing program functioning. Canterbury’s announcement is unusually clear about the different lanes these honorees occupied. Mattson stands for ownership and investment, McArdle for track safety, integrity and administration, and Dickey Bob for the horse category that has long been part of Canterbury’s identity. That mix matters because the Hall of Fame is not built around winners alone. It is built around the people and horses that sustained Minnesota racing through the day-to-day work that fans rarely see.

The class also fits an established pattern, not a one-off tribute. By 2023, Canterbury’s Hall of Fame had already grown to more than 50 individuals and horses, a marker of how much institutional memory the track has chosen to preserve. That same year’s class included former jockey Ry Eikleberry, owner-breeder Bob Lothenbach and the Minnesota-bred thoroughbred Mr. Jagermeister. Explore Minnesota later listed Hall of Fame Night as a signature race day, underscoring that Canterbury has turned the honor into a recurring part of its seasonal calendar.

That continuity is the point. Canterbury’s Hall of Fame archive shows the track has treated these inductions as part of its record book, not just a promotional add-on. By adding Mattson, McArdle and Dickey Bob, the track tied another set of names to the local racing story and gave this year’s meet a direct link to the owners, officials and horses that built Canterbury’s place in Minnesota racing.