The question on the minds of many in horse racing as the calendar turns to September is just what will be the impact on Ontario's horse breeders with 2012 yearlings, clearly the immediate losers as a result of the OLG-Liberal modernization strategy that's ending the province's much-heralded slots-at-racetracks program in March 2013.
In Saturday's edition of the Toronto Star, Dave Perkins asks how valuable the yearling class of 2012 will be when the future is so unknown.
“Everyone is holding their breath and don’t know what to think,” said CTHS sales chair Yvonne Schwabe. “I have three of my own horses in this sale. We (breeders) all depend on this sale. We’re all nervous about what the horses will bring.”
The industry looked to the OMAFRA panel for some reassurances that the Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) and Horse Improvement Programs (HIP) would retain some semblence of funding. On Thursday, the panel offered a glimmer of hope with a statement pertaining to those key programs.
"For greater clarity in advance of the yearling sales, the panel can say with confidence that our Final Report will recommend the maintenance of the OSS and HIP and address the critical issues of ongoing funding," said the panel in a release.
The questions don't stop there. Like the blindsided racing industry, Perkins cannot comprehend the rationale for this government strategy. Just over a week ago, more questions were asked after it was revealed that the OLG and Liberals made the move to end the SAR program two days before receiving the economic analysis and impact. The decision leaves Perkins perplexed.
"None of this makes sense, surely. Who benefits from killing off horse racing? Would it be the incoming Americans who will run Toronto’s casino, if and when it arrives, plus those running legal bingo halls? (Note that many bingo licences have been bought recently by Larry Tanenbaum and Larry wouldn’t buy them if they weren’t worth something.) If racetracks shut down, where will slots machines go? Where will the government find the $1 billion that the slots-at-racetrack program churns?
It's pretty obvious that the
It's pretty obvious that the bingo halls will take the slots with the people now involved with them. My question is, seeing as there was no money in bingo halls before this and now all these are now being and will be bought up all of the sudden, I am not a lawyer bought it sounds a little like insider trading to me. Is there anyone with a legal background (lots of owners out there that do, where are you?)that can explain how it isn't and what is to prevent them from getting the slots and the owners 80% of the take?
Greg Parke