Officials with Harness Racing B.C. and the province's thoroughbred industry recently met with government officials in an attempt to secure added funding.
Over a Zoom session, the B.C. government informed the horse racing community that it could not meet its request for funding as the industry has lobbied for nearly the last year to subsidize racing while casinos remain closed in the pandemic.
“It’s just been a battle," Nigel Holmes, executive director of Harness Racing British Columbia (HRBC) told Trot Insider. "We worked closely with the thoroughbreds in trying to come up with our end goal of funding from the government. And when it came back 'no', it was devastating. It was really...it was a setback. We’re going to still go forward and work on the outskirts of it all, and see if we can get messages to the government."
With the industry's funding as it stands, "unless the government has a change of heart" the 2020-2021 harness racing season in British Columbia will conclude by the end of April.
"Had we had the funding, we could’ve raced in conjunction with the thoroughbreds on different days," Holmes added, "but we could’ve raced into May and June, and that’s kind of unheard of out here. Great Canadian [Gaming] was kind enough to let us continue racing without funding."
With a purse model that's directly linked to expanded gaming revenue at racetracks, and with the province's casinos shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic since last year, a number of questions remain regarding purses. The province is currently going through a third wave that's decimated the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, and Holmes could only speculate as to when the province would be able to resume expanded gaming.
“I’ve heard July potentially opening up. July’s going to be here quicker than we know it. So let’s say casinos don’t open until September, then when does the money start to flow into the horse racing business? Great Canadian’s got 26 locations across the country with casinos and racetracks, and I’m sure they’ve got some bills to pay. So how quickly is it going to be before we can get funding to the racetracks? Is it going to be October? I don’t know. And if the government only allows [a] 50-person limit inside those casinos, then what’s that going to mean for us? We’ve got way more questions than answers.
"Here we sit. The reality of it is we’ll enjoy our last few weeks."
As of press time, Fraser Downs will be the only track conducting harness racing in Canada for the foreseeable future after Ontario's shutdown order closed tracks as of April 3.
HRBC issued a statement to its members on Wednesday (March 31) regarding the government's latest decision. The full statement appears below.
ATTENTION: HRBC MEMBERSHIP
This morning we had an industry phone call at 8:15 a.m. with Doug Scott, the Assistant Deputy Minister. The purpose of the meeting was to inform the industry on the status of our funding request. It was stated that the government does not have good news and is currently not in a position financially to support the horse racing industry. Obviously this was not the answer we had wanted and it puts us in a position of not being able to race beyond our current April dates.
The HRBC Board of Directors will meet early next week to further discuss our next steps and strategize on how we as an industry move forward. We will be looking to the Horse Racing Industry Management Committee (HRIMC) to support us and keep the pressure on the government in helping to sustain horse racing. As an industry we will also be looking to put the pressure on the government to increase our share of the slot revenues once casinos reopen.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but hopefully, by working together we can get through this next tough time.
Nigel Holmes,
HRBC Executive Director