Braving the frigid winter temperatures, a crowd of horse racing representatives attended the Ontario Liberal Leadership Convention on Friday at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre (the old Maple Leaf Gardens) in Toronto to help the party delegates and candidates reconnect with Rural Ontario.

As Ontario Liberal Party delegates converged downtown to begin voting for the new party leader and premier, participants of the racing industry took part in a rally at the convention in an effort to educate party members on the seriousness of racing’s current situation.

Horsemen and women attended the rally early Friday morning showcasing signs that read “Farmers & Horses 1st, Casinos 2nd.”

"The message was simply that horses and farmers should have priority over casinos and we want the new leader to work with the industry to come up with a better solution that the industry is faced with," Ontario Harness Horse Association's General Manager Brian Tropea told Trot Insider.

Later in the day, Racing Future’s Dennis Mills invited the participants outside of Maple Leaf Gardens to a nearby establishment where they met with candidate Kathleen Wynne, Minister Ted McMeekin, and John Wilkinson to discuss this week’s announcements and the future of the horse racing industry.

“All three of them are on board to work with the industry effectively and really get a sustainability plan in place to help the racing go on,” Rachel Kukulewich, National Manager at Canadian Horse Thoroughbred Society, told Trot Insider. “None of the other candidates were willing to connect, but Racing Future is down here at the convention fighting the fight for horse racing and all of the people that work for Dennis Mills have delegate status and were educating all of the leadership candidates on the racing industry and what needs to be done in terms of sustainability as we go forward – not just for racing, but for breeding as well.

“It was more of an education session for the delegates that were registering and the candidates that were available,” she continued. “Everyone did such a great job and were so positive in their messaging. It really was a good opportunity. There weren’t any other unions or anyone else rallying outside of the convention today so horse racing really took the spotlight for the first day of the convention.”

The convention will continue on Saturday and Sunday. Another rally for Ontario horse racing will take place on Saturday afternoon. For busing information, arranged by Central Ontario Standardbred Association and Ontario Harness Horse Association, click here.