Over 120 horsepeople, owners, trainers, drivers and grooms, braved the winter storm on Tuesday night to discuss the Ontario Harness Horse Association’s (OHHA) negotiations with the Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) for a Standardbred racing contract.
They voted unanimously to continue to withhold entries for live harness racing at Woodbine Racetrack. Recognizing that some horsepeople, including many in attendance, have submitted entries for this weekend, they included in their vote a January 1, 2009 deadline, meaning no entries will be made for any race card offered after January 5, 2009. Many horsepeople have already decided to withhold entries and are doing so for race cards scheduled for this weekend at Woodbine. Those attending advised that if anyone has entered for a previous card they should call the race office and specify that their entry was for that day only and can not be carried over to another race card.
No contract offer was delivered to OHHA by WEG prior to this meeting and WEG indicated that the earliest it could meet to continue negotiations would be some time during the week of January 5, 2009. OHHA’s negotiating team is available. The decision to withhold entries was made after discussions that focussed agreement on two main points. First, horsepeople decided that WEG’s insistence that OHHA give up its right to participate in Ontario Racing Commission or Ontario court proceedings, when a licensed participant who is denied racing opportunities at WEG racetracks and seeks redress at these two levels, is unacceptable. Second, WEG’s insistence that the contractual links bringing the slot revenues designated for purses into the racing contract be deleted is unacceptable. These two issues not only were seen as putting horsepeople at risk but were also seen as putting the existence of their association, OHHA, at risk.
Racing without a valid racing contract puts horsepeople at significant risk. No longer will they have any control over purse distributions, scheduling of race dates or opportunities to participate. Put plainly, the racetrack will decide who races, when they race and how much they will race for.
The mood at the meeting was driven by the desire of horsepeople to have control of their futures in horse racing and to have meaningful input into how their industry would evolve. Their decision to take this action was made with the best interests of the industry in mind. Horsepeople want to ensure that their fans and the bettors continue to have access to the highest quality of racing. Owners want to ensure that trainers and drivers compete fairly. Trainers and drivers want to ensure that the owners’ investments are protected and their horses are allowed to perform in open competition.
For more information please contact John Walzak at 1-866-774-6442 or 905-854-6442 ext. 226.
(OHHA)
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"http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/news/12-24-08/ohha-horsemen-to-withhold-entries-at-woodbine-in-new-year.html">OHHA: Horsemen To Withhold Entries At Woodbine In New Year