Exit off of Highway 169 in Shakopee and hang a left onto 12th Avenue. In moments, you will see everything that the Canterbury Park area has become within the past 10 years.

There's a modern office building, a barbecue restaurant, a brew pub and the Triple Crown Residences among other developments. A few hundred yards away, the finishing touches are being placed on an amphitheater with the capacity to hold 19,000 fans that will offer a full entertainment schedule in 2026.

"Chris Stapleton is touring and doing a number of amphitheaters," said Randy Sampson, president and chief executive of Canterbury Park. "I'm almost sure that if this was open this year he would have done two nights here, packed each night."

Let's not forget about the track, which was the centerpiece of the 390-acre site when the Sampson family purchased the land in 1994 and pledged to keep horse racing alive in Minnesota.

"There's always concerns that, 'they are developing the land, are they going to get rid of racing?' " Sampson said. "Our answer is that we wouldn't have spent $15 million putting in new barns and dorms."

If horse racing ceases at Canterbury Park, it won't be because of Sampson, who has toiled in the industry for decades. It will be because of 201 state legislators who can't agree on a gambling bill. They are forgetting about the track.

Live racing returns to Canterbury Park at 5 p.m. Saturday with the start of a 51-day horse racing season. That is down from a 54-race season in 2024 and will be the shortest season the track has had under Sampson's guidance.

The season is down to 51 days in order to provide the largest purses possible. Better purses attract better horse owners. Owners who breed, buy, train and race horses want the best return on their investment. That means heading out of the state to other tracks in pursuit of larger prizes if that is required.

Purses are down at Canterbury since an 11-year, $75 million agreement with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, which enabled the track to beef up purses and improve the quality of racing, expired following the 2022 season. An extension of the deal, worth about half as much annually, was discussed but failed to progress. In 2023, purses dropped by around $5 million and owners looked elsewhere for a return on their investment.

The state was supposed to come through with a bill that would legalize sports betting while also providing funds to help Canterbury increase it purses.

How's that looking? Last year's session ended with politicians believing a breakthrough had been reached that would lead to success in 2025. This year, a couple of critics objected, and the bill died early in the process.

A special session will be needed to complete state business this year, but there are no hopes for reviving the sports betting bill.

"The frustrating thing," Sampson said. "There was a plan the tribes, the charities, the tracks had all come to an agreement on this as a plan, and that plan would be very beneficial to purses here."

That makes Minnesota 0-for-5 in sessions in which a gambling bill has been debated — a streak any handicapper wants to avoid. Minnesota is one of 11 states that haven't legalized sports wagering.

I had a discussion with a state legislator last summer. His worry was that folks with gambling addictions could simply pick up a phone and wager. I should have taken out my phone and opened an account in front of him just to prove it already was available.

I could build a new gas station, and the first scratch-off or Powerball ticket I sell would be expanding gambling more than any bill. It's already out there.

The 201 lawmakers in St. Paul seem comfortable with putting the future of horse racing in this state in some peril with its lack of action. It's been more important to them to make folks press a button three times each turn on an e-tab machine because hitting it one time makes it look too much like a slot machine. Classic over-legislation.

There is enough money in this state for casino operators and handicappers to be satisfied. But Minnesota is watching tax revenue drive across its borders into more gambling-friendly states.

Another legislative session will likely come and go without a solution on a gambling bill. And Canterbury Park suffers because of it.