The Windsor Star has run a story regarding the Lakeshore Horse Raceway group's meeting with the Ontario Racing Commission and the OMAFRA horse-racing transitional panel, as more comments come out in relation to the Tuesday meeting.
Lakeshore Mayor Tom Bain yesterday went on the record as saying that the group's business plan needs some 'tightening' before the upstart track group meets again with the ORC and the panel.
In The Windsor Star article, ORC Veterinarian Race Supervisor Dr. Paul Branton, who is also part of the Lakeshore group, was quoted as saying that he is "feeling optimistic and strongly believe we’ll be having more racing at Leamington.”
Dr. Branton was also quoted as saying, “They recognized our group as the leaders down here," and that "they acknowledged we’re working within the framework of how they envision the industry.”
Bain also made it clear that the Lakeshore group is "going after both funds." The funds being the 'stranded' purse capital in relation to the now-shuttered Windsor Raceway, and an unknown amount of transitional funding capital that the Ontario Liberal Government has pledged to earmark for the provincial racing industry.
“None of the hurdles they’ve given us are insurmountable,” Bain was quoted as saying, adding that the whole undertaking is contingent on the purse and transitional capital. “It’s still a question of money. If we don’t get those stranded funds or transition money, it won’t happen.”
(With files from The Windsor Star)
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