With a new track and a renewed interest in harness racing, horsemen in the province of Saskatchewan are now left pondering their future after losing government support effective next year.
Trot Radio's Norm Borg talks to representatives from each of the standardbred tracks in the province - Yorkton GM Shaun Morin and SSHA President Glenn LeDrew. LeDrew would like to see the provincial government open up the simulcast home market area to West Meadows as currently all simulcasting revenues are funnelled to Marquis Downs.
"We would certainly like to see the government come at it from the perspective of all stakeholders and not just that of Marquis Downs," noted LeDrew. "We're hoping they'll do the right thing - that which is fair to all stakeholders - and that is give everybody the same tools."
Morin too would like to compromise with the thoroughbred side for the benefit of Cornerstone Raceway at Yorkton, a small town that would be hit extremely hard if the harness racing industry stopped making its annual trek to that community.
"When the standardbred industry comes in here in April to start training and stays through to September, that's a huge impact on our community, well in excess over a million dollars over the summer. That's a lot of money for a town of 18,000 people."
To hear the full Trot Radio episode, click the play button below.
Episode 274 – Focus On Saskatchewan
Audio Format: MP3 audio
Host: Norm Borg
(Photograph by: Michael Bell, Regina Leader-Post)