It is with a touch of sadness that I reflect on the news announced earlier this month that Hippodrome Aylmer has been sold and will likely never host a live harness race again. There are certainly many people in the National Capital Region – on both sides of the Ontario-Quebec border, whose memories of racing in Aylmer date back to the days when the track was known as Connaught Park. (You would never hear anyone at the track actually refer to it as “Hippodrome Gatineau” or “Sulky Gatineau”, names with which Attractions Hippiques attempted to rechristen the track. It was always “Connaught Park”, “Hippodrome Aylmer”, or just plain “Aylmer”.)

My memories of Hippodrome Aylmer do not go that far back. I only moved to Ottawa for my current job in 2007, and before that my other stint in the nation’s capital was in 2002-2003. Throughout all that time, however, Hippodrome Aylmer was my Saturday afternoon retreat: a place to unwind and watch harness racing in the cozy setting of a modest grandstand fronted by a half-mile track, all just minutes from downtown Ottawa. For me, the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon at Aylmer was to take in the live races, complete with Richard Proulx’s bilingual race calls, keep an eye on all of the thoroughbred simulcasts between live races, and enjoy some chicken wings during the late afternoon happy hour.

Live racing at Aylmer was a true spectacle. In warmer weather, trackside was the place to be. This was especially true after the recent renovations, when there was an outdoor patio right at the finish line and a grassy area next to that, of which a lot of families with young children took advantage. In all kinds of weather, the grandstand was the place to have a beer, enjoy racing on the big screens, perhaps enjoy a reasonably priced meal in the dining room, and just hang out and have fun. On top of all that, there were always promotions such as handicapping contests or the weekly invitation to fill out the ballot in your program and guess who would be the first driver to record a hat trick that afternoon. On track, the occasional 13/16 mile and 1 1/16 mile races added some variety to an afternoon of racing. Overall, the atmosphere at Hippodrome Aylmer reflected a genuine effort to make live racing a true sporting event that everyone could enjoy and to which you would want to return.

Unfortunately, all the efforts made at the local level to reinforce Hippodrome Aylmer’s place as an entertainment destination in the Ottawa-Gatineau area could not save the track from falling victim to the crisis that has befallen the Quebec racing industry. The current economic situation certainly did not help, either. That said, the fact that those who expressed interest in buying the Aylmer site have considered it to be valuable only for development, and that no one was willing to try to revive racing at the site, is a sad statement indeed.

In the meantime, Hippodrome Aylmer continues to operate as a simulcast facility, and the video lottery terminals still attract quite a few devoted players. Fans continue to cheer for their horses and chat over beers, and the service at the mutuels and concessions is as friendly and welcoming as it ever has been. If you go to the track these days, you would not know that the place is on its last legs - until you look out at the racing surface and realize that the horses are not coming back.

Hippodrome Aylmer was not the first track in recent years to join the ranks of defunct ovals. We have seen Orangeville Raceway and Kingston Park Raceway go by the wayside in Ontario, Sackville Downs out east is no more, and Garden State Park south of the border is but a distant memory. Other businesses in other industries come and go as well. Start-ups and failures are a part of the cold, hard reality of business, even in harness racing.

However, we must learn from the troubles that plague the Quebec racing industry and brought about the demise of Hippodrome Aylmer to try to avoid watching a similar fate befall other tracks in other provinces. The success of harness racing is the business of all stakeholders involved, including horse people, track management and staff, the fans who support the sport, the general public at large and governments at all levels in the jurisdictions in which harness racing is conducted. We must work together and ensure that each of these categories of stakeholders is committed to the success of the sport. There may be different views as to the cause or causes of the Quebec crisis, but I believe that most will agree that the support of one or more of these constituencies was lacking.

I have just one last thought for Hippodrome Aylmer, borrowed from the licence plates of most of the cars you would see in the parking lot: “Je me souviens” – I remember. To Hippodrome Aylmer and all of the great people who worked to make it what it was: thanks for the memories!