This afternoon, Woodbine Entertainment Group issued the following letter to the harness racing industry.

The letter comes as a result of the recommended boycott of WEG's entry box by the Ontario Harness Horse Association, stemming from the lack of a 2009 contract between the two groups.

Prior to this official release from WEG, Trot Insider received exclusive comments from Jamie Martin, Woodbine Entertainment Group’s Vice President of Racing, about the prospects of racing in the new year.

Here is the letter:

To Woodbine Standardbred Horsepeople:

The contract between Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) and the Ontario
Harness Horse Association (OHHA) expires on December 31, 2008. Certain
issues remain unresolved, so to avoid any confusion or misrepresentation
of facts, below are some of the important issues you should be aware of:

• WEG is not proposing any change to the sharing of wagering revenue
  from the previous contract. In 2009 purses are expected to grow by $4
  million, and will exceed $80 million.
• WEG is required by contract with the OLG to share slot revenue on a
  50/50 split basis. This agreement expires in 2014 at Mohawk and 2015 at
  Woodbine, well beyond the end date of the proposed agreement with OHHA.
• WEG expects its contracted partner to support honest racing. Our
  customers are telling us that they have serious concerns regarding the
  integrity of our harness racing, and this has contributed to a decrease
  in wagering of approximately 20% over the last 5 years. As purses are
  tied to wagering, in order to retain the current high level of purses,
  it's in the interest of the racetrack and horsepeople to be able to
  resolve serious integrity issues within the contract. In the event WEG
  exercises its private property rights to exclude an individual,
  generally as a result of a serious performance enhancing drug violation,
  and OHHA wishes to reverse the exclusion, WEG is proposing a binding
  dispute resolution mechanism within the contract. The agreement would
  not preclude an individual from seeking relief from the ORC or the
  courts.
• WEG is proposing a minimum level of annual race dates in the
  agreement at 225. Our position remains that the number of race dates
  will be based on the ability to fill programs with quality racing that
  will generate wagering pools of at least $1 million. In 2009, WEG
  applied for 235 race dates and does not intend to reduce that level of
  dates provided the above conditions for the long term benefit of the
  industry are satisfied. While hopeful that conditions will exist that
  support more racing, WEG is prepared to guarantee 225 race dates within
  the proposed 3 year term of the agreement.

WEG intends to offer live racing despite the call by OHHA to boycott
the entry box. WEG will conduct racing for every scheduled card even if
field size is small.

Sincerely,

Woodbine Entertainment Group

(WEG)