Premier Doug Ford,

My name is Mark Horner. I am contacting you today to inform the Ontario government of the negative effects of an extended lockdown.

This will indeed have an enormous strain on the participants and those people whose incomes are directly affected. Our industry employs thousands throughout this province. We have operated for seven months with very few cases throughout our industry. We have worked diligently though these months and we are prepared to act swiftly to adhere to any or all new protocols and operational procedures that could be implemented at our respective race tracks. Our athletes are a huge part of not only agriculture in rural Ontario, but also a professional sport. We have grave concerns that the extension of the segregated lockdown will buckle our industry. We stand with our industry leaders at Ontario Racing, Woodbine Entertainment and COSA in their push for a quick return to racing.

As an owner/trainer/breeder farm operator in Ontario, I am asking for consideration and consultation with local and provincial heath and government officials to explore the return of racing. Obviously we are committed to continued health and safety of all participants and the well-being of overall public health.

We applaud the strong and continued cooperation we have received from your government and look forward to continued dialog to move our industry forward.

Yours truly,
Mark Horner

The views presented in Trot Blogs are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Standardbred Canada.