I don't claim to have the answers.
I'm someone who at one time in my life would be at a racetrack somewhere, every day, sometimes twice a day.
With the onset of age, those days are long gone.
I now only go to big race nights and baby race qualifiers in the morning.
As a fan, I hated Woodbine. I had trouble following the horses because they were so far away. More often than not, I'd be watching the races on a TV monitor.
The only reason I was there at all, was because it was a big race night. I love the ambiance of a racetrack. Equally, I loved seeing the people who I've known in the sport for over half a century. They were usually in attendance on big nights.
Mohawk is a different story. You can see the horses and drivers. You can watch the races live. There are no vast areas of emptiness that you find at Woodbine, because of it enormous size.
Is it a schlep to get out there from Toronto? Of course it is. But even factoring in the drive, I'd sooner be there than Woodbine.
The ideal of course was Greenwood. It had all the attributes and pretty much none of the negatives of its successors.
Will the move work out? I sincerely hope it does.

Mr. Thomas... What happened in California when the standardbreds got kicked to the suburbs? I'm glad I'm on the back nine instead of the front nine

What a great night last night as usual.
Even with a $10 charge for the special night the stands were jammed and it didn't rain.
The quality of racing was phenomenal
I Will be back next Saturday night as usual.

I think leaving the city was an inevitable move the way the whole restructuring of the racing in the province has been going. Myself, I always liked Mohawk but don't think year round racing will be a net positive for the sport in general.
To those of you who say Mohawk is a "fan friendly" track for patrons I say that was very true when it was a 5/8 oval. Maybe somebody will consider re-configuring the track from it's present form but I doubt it. #MMGA Make Mohawk Great Again
My passion for the sport has not waned even after many years of not being directly involved however I know one thing, you do need fans in attendance, and being over an hour away from downtown TO and more than two hours for most others to travel there isn't feasible for the long term. January through March in Campbellville, add another hour or two some nights to get there, ahh no thanks. Good luck to all involved.

For all of those who look on the bright side we can all enjoy the great harness racing Mohawk has to offer.
I love Mohawk...

Mr. Thomas
you keep mentioning how what the "odd Joe" thinks doesn't necessarily matter. It's pretty obvious your reference is to me so let's be a little clear about something here. I have seen enough races both live and telecast in my life thus far to last me a lifetime. I have not actually been to a live race anywhere in several years so it has very little impact on me personally where the races are held. Had you read my entire post you would've noticed that I made several suggestions about how racing could be improved and track location was only part of my comments. While you like to say this is about more then me, on that fact I would agree with you because as I said I have had more then the average fill of racing. When I do speak up and lately it's been not as frequently it's because I still care somewhat about a sport I used to be passionate about. You make your point about how moving would be so great but there is not a shred of evidence that you have presented to substantiate your claim that moving year round to Mohawk would be better.
I'm an executive at a large investment firm downtown. Many time in the past our firms would have nights at Woodbine where we would sponsor races etc. It was easy enough to do because it was easily accessible and easy to get home pretty much no matter where you lived. These types of events will be much more difficult once the change is made. Some of these events often introduced new fans to the game.
While this move may make sense to the more rural crowd you are kidding yourself if you think it wont impact the city crowd. While I do agree with the fact that most wagering is done on the internet now, what really brings in new fans is a great live experience.
It also seems impractical to me from a business sense for WEG to have two tracks open when they could've had all racing at Woodbine had there been the will and foresight to do so. There is plenty of land at Woodbine which could've been used to build both a great harness and thoroughbred racetrack. This would've easily saved a lot on long term costs as only one track would have to be maintained and not two. A lot of money was spent on upgrading Woodbine to accommodate harness racing and for what? To simply shut it down now as far as harness racing goes?
Either way this move will not save harness racing as harness racing has far bigger issues then location.

To Mr. Maue & Mr Thomas;
I have been involved in racing as both a spectator and an owner for a very long time, more then 4 decades. I have made many drives to Mohawk, Barrie, Orangeville, Fort Erie, Blue Bonnets, Hawthorne Park, Sportsman Park, Flamborough, Greenwood and Woodbine over the years.You folks obviously missed my point. I have seen so much live racing in my life, for many years several times a week that it matters very little to me where the races are held. If I feel like going I go and if I don't I don't. My point was, that Woodbine is the a premiere track in Canada. Had the powers that be thought it out carefully they could've very easily put combined both T'bred and S'bred racing at Woodbine which could've brought in people in from the East, West, South and North.
There is very little doubt in my mind that moving racing to Mohawk full time will basically eliminate many people from the city as Mr. Yamakva has said many many times on this blog, and I happen to agree with the thought that those who do not drive (I do) and those, even if they do drive, will not go to Mohawk during a weeknight or even a Sunday night when one must work the next day. Mr Thomas may think it's a 45 minute drive to Mohawk but that would be in the summer under Ideal traffic conditions. See how may people will go there in the middle of February? I used to go to Greenwood and Woodbine year round as did many others. I think this will change all that.
Mr Thomas while you may think I am complaining and while Mr. Maue may wonder if I am happy, my comments were made with the best interests of the sport in mind.

I will miss the live Standardbred racing at Woodbine. But, great to see Mohawk getting a makeover.

I don't live in Ontario so this move makes no difference to me. For the horseman racing at Mohawk it is more convenient because they don't have to truck their horses long distance, but on the other hand I don't see how it will benefit racing long term to have no harness racing in Canada's biggest city. I think long term the harness handle will suffer as a result of this move.

This is a great chance to bring in new fans and make racing a family affair. Put in a hotel with a water park, arcade, golf course, a petting zoo, horse and buggy rides, trails to walk and bicycle ride on. In the winter you could have cross country skiing and ice skating. Not everyone wants glitz and glamour, and as standardbred racing is mostly a grassroots affair you have an instant clientele as well as those wishing to escape the rat race of the city. Offer discounts to local attractions as well a special rate for those in the industry already. If you build it they will come.

Fantastic news! At the end of the day, SAFER for all involved too! Just wondering IF 'Joe' has ever been happy?!?

You have to think about whats better for the product. I love racing at Mohawk. I live in Durham. Woodbine was a horrible place for harness races. The track configuration plus winter conditions created for some of the most boring racing around.
People who live in Toronto about having to drive to Mohawk... 45 minutes from Victoria park and 401 to Mohawk. There will be the odd Joe who will complain about the drive. How about the people who are west of Guelph who are applauding this.
In other words "You can't please everyone" It's about the survival of harness racing, not the odd complainer.
See you there Saturday for the best day of the year.

So basically if you live in Toronto and want to catch live harness racing too bad, you need to drive to Mohawk. Oh well guess I won't be catching too much live harness racing anymore.
Harness racing in Toronto got screwed up badly. It went from Greenwood which was a great inner city track, easily accessible, horse and trainers and drivers were easily accessible as you could line up right along the rail as the horse came out, to moving to Woodbine which was a huge mistake. You can barely see the horses from the distance. The Woodbine grandstand is a bad for live racing purposes. They should've made it a one mile track. Terrible for the fans.
The harness track at Woodbine should've been one mile like the Meadowlands, they still could've had a good thoroughbred tapeta and turf course had they designed it better. With all the land available it should've been easy to do.
They should bring back the tellers like they have at Belmont instead of machines and then they would've had a vibrant racing facility. So now they move everything to Mohawk essentially screwing the city crowd and shooting themselves further in the foot.

This will be a positive move for every human, employees and fans, as well as every horse who hates two hour bus rides!

BUT one major change I hope to see for winter racing and it costs zip!
CHANGE the post time from 7:30 to something earlier! When it gets dark at 5pm -
7:30 is too dark, too cold and no fun! Heck it's too late now! Is there another track in N. America starting after 7:15? Most are before 6:50.

This Saturday even 6:30 is waaay too late (for 15 races.)- finished at 11:55 IF no delays!
That will keep me at home, sorry!

I love the move---- now we have Woodbine for the thoroughbreds and Woodbine at Mohawk Park for the standardbreds. Great move by WEG. Mohawk is a better harness racing track than Woodbine anyways---- love the move.

Did I say I loved the move?