On behalf of the recently-formed Fort Erie Thoroughbred Racing Consortia, the Fort Erie Economic Development and Tourism Corporation today held a press conference to outline the latest plea to provincial government to save the historic Fort Erie Racetrack for thoroughbreds.

According to an article by forterietimes.ca, EDTC general manager Jim Thibert said that to sustain racing at the border oval, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation's current funding model needs to be changed. The proposal states that instead of the track and horsemen being given 10 per cent of slots revenues, $15 million per year -- with $6 million going toward race purses -- could come from the Ontario government.

The article also states that three options -- which are listed below -- were presented during the proposal.

• 1) The consolidation of slots revenues from all 'racino' sites in Ontario, where all slots revenues would go to the province and then be re-allocated to provincial expenditure priorities.
• 2) Revenue pooling, which would involve the OLG dispersing funds to tracks based on a business plan approach, and not on what the OLG generates in a local market.
• 3) Small market adjustment, which is already being used by professional sports leagues (teams in smaller markets are given special funding to sustain the health of the industry and Thibert says it would leave the current funding formula intact but would provide subsidy to small market tracks allowing them to function at the same level as tracks in bigger markets).

"We really need to develop a model that will sustain live-racing not just in Fort Erie but in Ontario," Thibert said.

Click here to the read the forterietimes.ca article in its entirety.

(With files from forterietimes.ca)