Track Execs Talk Purse Pooling

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Published: March 18, 2010 08:53 am EDT

With harness racing looking for different models to survive, some in the industry are in favour of a model that pools purses then doles them out in a tiered-track

system.

In his weekly column for The Guelph Mercury, Dave Briggs received positive feedback from three prominent racetrack officials.

"I think this business requires a premium racing product that can be sold worldwide, that everybody aspires to work at," said Western Fair's Hugh Mitchell. "From that, I think you need some element of the minor leagues and the grassroots product to develop people and horses to be able to go and work and perform at that higher level."

Mitchell's co-worker at Western Fair, Ian Fleming, also the Director of Racing at Clinton Raceway, believes that slightly lower purses at Clinton would be beneficial to the local horseman.

"If they raced for less purses in Clinton, the people stabled in Clinton would make more money,” said Fleming, with the thought that tougher competition would find it less lucrative to race there.

As certain tracks like Woodstock Raceway have a strange imbalance of slot revenue and race dates, purse pooling would see more of that money doled out to racing at other tracks. Grand River Raceway's General Manager Dr. Ted Clarke referred to Woodstock's purse structure as a "ridiculous model."

To read more from The Guelph Mercury, click here.

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