In an exciting evolution for the Ontario horse racing industry, Standardbred Canada (SC) announced to its members earlier today that SC and Woodbine Entertainment are partnering to offer Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) for purse payments at all Ontario Racing Standardbred racetracks.

EFT, commonly referred to as direct deposit, is the globally accepted best practice for payroll, and other forms of payment worldwide, including in security conscious industries such as banking and insurance.

Now owners, trainers and drivers will be able to receive purse payments via direct deposit.

“We are excited to take this step forward as an industry,” said SC Board Chair and Woodbine Director of Standardbred Racing, Bill McLinchey. “EFT will provide a more secure and expeditious purse payment process for our racing participants.”

To begin receiving EFT payments horsepeople must provide the required documents to SC at their earliest convenience. Due to the expected volume of submissions, it may take up to four to six weeks to begin receiving payments via EFT.

To learn what information must be submitted, please visit this link, where SC has outlined the entire EFT process. 

An important note is that for horses owned or leased by more than one person or more than one stable, the first owner of record will receive the EFT payment, but all owners must complete the EFT submission form.

SC is providing a no-fee grace period for ownership groups to change the first owner of record until May 1, 2023, if the group would like a different party to receive the EFT. After that date, there will be a fee for all transfers, including changes in the order of ownership.

For more information on the EFT process, please contact Standardbred Canada.

(Ontario Racing)