British Columbia's harness racing industry was blindsided when news broke last Friday afternoon, less than three weeks away from its scheduled fall meet at Fraser Downs, that its only provincial racetrack was closing.

Racetrack operator Great Canadian Entertainment announced the immediate closure of Fraser Downs, including the backstretch, stabling facilities and racetrack, in a press release on Friday, Aug. 15, citing a "notice from the City of Surrey, landlord and owner of Fraser Downs, that it is exercising its recapture option under the Lease Agreement to terminate the lease." 

The Harness Racing British Columbia Society (HRBC) and its members -- all trainers, drivers, owners, breeders and grooms for Standardbred racing in the province -- were devastated by the announcement coming less than three weeks away from the scheduled fall meet after receiving regular progress reports from Great Canadian management that work reportedly progressed this summer to clean up a longstanding rodent infestation at the facilities ahead of the resumption of racing.  

"It was just a complete shock. We had no idea this was coming," Kelly MacMillan, President of HRBC, told CBC News. "We were expecting to start racing on September 4 and people have ... incurred great expenses, just [to] have that pulled out at the 11th hour."

According to a notice posted on Aug. 15 on the HRBC website, MacMillan received an email from Wayne Odegard, Great Canadian Entertainment, Regional Vice President, Operations B.C., confirming the termination of live horse racing at Fraser Downs effective immediately. All scheduled meetings between representatives of Great Canadian's parent company Orangeville, the Gaming Policy & Enforcement Branch and HRBC were subsequently cancelled.

"As shocked as we all are, the HRBC Board of Directors will work diligently towards investigating the repercussions of this termination and will advise the membership as information is received. The Board of Harness Racing B.C. asks for all to be patient at this time," stated MacMillan in the notice to HRBC members.

According to multiple regional news reports, the City of Surrey has earmarked the nearly five hectares of land the Fraser Downs racetrack sits on as part of its redevelopment plans, which include housing, a hospital, public spaces, recreation and cultural facilities. The Fraser Downs grandstand, which houses the Great Canadian-operated Elements Casino Surrey, is not part of the lease termination and as such casino and racebook operations will continue.

“Surrey is growing rapidly toward one million residents. To plan responsibly, the city is ending its lease with Fraser Downs so we can begin the critical planning and pre-construction work to revitalize the Cloverdale fairgrounds and town centre, turning it into a regional destination and formally enshrining Old Cloverdale as a protected historic precinct that showcases our city’s heritage,” Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke was quoted as saying in a Vancouver Sun article. 

“We respect the long history of horse racing in Surrey and the people connected to it. We carefully weighed those impacts against the citywide benefits of revitalization.”

Doug McCallum, former mayor of Surrey and a past CEO of HRBC, criticized the decision to end harness racing that has taken place at the Cloverdale fairgrounds for 49 years, countering by calling it "a devastating blow to Surrey’s economy, its heritage, and working families." 

“Brenda Locke has steamrolled an entire industry in Surrey,” McCallum was quoted as saying by the Surrey-Now Leader. “Trainers, breeders, jockeys, and workers with unique skill sets are now out of work. These aren’t jobs that can be replaced overnight. She has destroyed an industry just to push through her ego-driven redevelopment schemes.”

Another Surrey-Now Leader article chronicled the potential impact the racetrack closure could have on the region beyond the racing industry participants losing their livelihoods, also affecting local feed and tack businesses. 

A petition to prevent the track from closing has received more than 2,360 signatures as of press time.

While horsepeople had already vacated the six barns in the backstretch after the provincial horsemen's group lost a legal dispute regarding Great Canadian's planned rodent abatement program following the conclusion of the winter/spring harness racing meet, that closure was expected to be temporary with the program proceeding for 60 to 90 days. 

A judgement issued by the Supreme Court of British Columbia's Justice Francesca Marzari in favour of Great Canadian proceeding with the rodent abatement plan on May 30, found "it is not in Orangeville’s interests, financial or otherwise, to close the Racetrack for any longer than necessary to address the rat infestation," and there was "no evidence that would establish that Orangeville is motivated by an intention to harm HRBC or its members, or prevent the use of the Racetrack for harness racing."

Great Canadian management remained in regular contact with the leadership of HRBC regarding the progress of the work, but remained noncommittal to a backstretch reopening date ahead of the scheduled fall meet's Sept. 4 opening race day.

According to MacMillan, HRBC was led to believe a backstretch reopening date of Aug. 20 and a racing start date of Sept. 4 were still being targeted but had not received stall applications or a new contract agreement as of Aug. 8.

In a press release dated Wednesday, Aug. 20 on the HRBC website, the non-profit organization stated it "has been given just two weeks to vacate its office space by Great Canadian. This sudden eviction, without meaningful dialogue or fair process, threatens the operations and stability of the organization" and HRBC is urging the City of Surrey to step in and ensure that non-profits are treated with respect and fairness.

“We are being locked out without cause,” said a spokesperson for HRBC. “This is a bad faith eviction, and we deserve fair treatment.”

Fraser Downs horsepeople with belongings such as mats, jog carts and signage in the backstretch must fill out an HRBC Member Property Pick Up Time Sign Up form with all information clearly marked and email it to Diane Pennington at [email protected] no later than Friday, Aug. 22 1 p.m., so the HRBC office can submit the information to Great Canadian by 3 p.m. to permit entrance.

(Standardbred Canada)