The first horses arrived today at the new Regina track, West Meadows Raceway
.
"It is both a historic day and a very exciting time for harness racing in Saskatchewan," said Le Drew, WMR director and spokesperson. "Having the first horses on the grounds and on the track is very significant and has been long awaited."
West Meadows Raceway is the first Saskatchewan racetrack to open its doors to harness horsemen 365 days of the year for training.
"So much work and effort on behalf of many have gone into building this place and this is a definite milestone that we have been looking forward to. Horsemen now have the opportunity to train their horses at a racetrack and be prepared for qualifying day and the beginning of the race meet. It should definitely help increase the number of horses ready to enter for opening day at Yorkton in May."
The number of stalls are limited and stall applications along with more information can be found here. Interested horsemen should submit their application and contact Jane Grainger at 306-539-6123 to make stabling arrangements.
Regina's track is the newest stop in a circuit that includes racing in both Yorkton and Saskatoon (Marquis Downs) and has applied for six race days for 2009. WMR Officials are now anxiously awaiting final confirmation on the number of days that will be approved for racing later this summer.
"It is hoped that days in Regina would be added to the 16-day meet in Yorkton and the eight days in Saskatoon. We are trying to extend the racing season for the horsemen and their owners."
Saskatchewan standardbred horsemen would like to see their number of race days closer to that of the thoroughbreds which get funded for a 30-day race meet in Saskatoon and two days in Melville.
"Yorkton and Saskatoon have done a great job promoting harness racing and thanks to both of them, the standardbreds have experienced significant growth with the live wager increasing in each of the last three years. Bringing harness racing exposure back to Regina and being part of that circuit will help the industry grow even more," said Le Drew.
Regina has a large market base that is very excited to see it come back. West Meadows Raceway has received emails and letters from race fans that have been longing for its return.
(West Meadows Raceway Inc.)
Regina would not support
Regina would not support standardbred racing at Queensbury Downs, a first class facilty, in the middle of town. I can see no reason why West Meadows Raceway will make any difference. sam taylor
This is a good news for
This is a good news for Standardbred racing in Sk. The problem appears to be government funding. According to the article in TROT magazine the throughbreds race 57% of the days and receive 71% of the grants, while Standardbreds race 43% of the days and receive only 29% of the grants. Something is not quite right here. With throughbreds racing 32 days and Standardbreds 24 days, I think it shouldn't be too difficult to reallocate some additional funding to the Standardbreds for a couple extra days at West Meadows Raceway and get harness racing back to the Regina fans. The harness purses need to increase in order to grow the industry.
This Is Great News! Finally
This Is Great News! Finally a place that we can train our horses down-at a racetrack and be ready when racing begins in Yorkton. Now we have a chance to get Regina fans back and maybe some more owners back into the business. There were no complaints when we raced in Craven, then went to Yorkton and then Saskatoon- the moving around is no big deal. We go where there is racing and moving is just part of the business now. They move a few times every year in Alberta, every weekend in Manitoba and most Ontario horses ship every race day so I doubt any horseman will complain about that. Congratulations and thank you to those who worked so hard to build us the new track and to those who are trying so hard to continue to build the industry here.
Finally, a place in SK that
Finally, a place in SK that is dedicated to harness racing for the long term.
No dates for West Meadows or
No dates for West Meadows or Yorkton and Saskatoon have been confirmed for 2009. All the press releases in the world does not change the fact that no extra funds have been found to support more race days in Saskatchewan. Horseman can't make it on $1000 bottoms.Add another track and we are looking at sub $1000 purses and more travel. Maybe building on what we have is better than adding another track
unfortunatly if there is no
unfortunatly if there is no extra funding or days being added to the sask meet the only thing that has changed is that the horsemen have to move one more time and still race for top purses of 1600!!