The 2010 Atlantic Harness Racing Symposium kicked off today in Truro, Nova Scotia with representatives from each of the four Atlantic provinces giving updates on the progress and growth in their regions
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Steve Morton, president of the Truro Harness Horseowners Association, began by providing an update on the growth of harness racing in the host province stating that “people are starting to realize that breeding is important and we are seeing a lot of young horses.
“The government has given us our $1 million funding,” he continued. “So far the government has been very positive for us. We want to see the Atlantic provinces united.”
“We have an opportunity,” stated Kent Oakes from the P.E.I. Department of Agriculture, noting the growth all Atlantic provinces has experienced in the past few years. “We are approaching 2,000 SC members in the Atlantic provinces including 625 breeders. We are on the increase from 1,687 in 2006 to 1,959 in 2009. P.E.I is third in Canada in membership numbers, Nova Scotia is fifth. Each province has increased each year. Atlantic purses are up. Number of owners are up.”
Focusing in on the growth of Newfoundland’s racing industry, Brett Whelan, general manager of St. John's Racing and Entertainment Centre, began by reporting on the rising handle.
“Last year we saw an increase from $1.2 to $1.75 million overall handle,” he said. “All of our numbers are up. We did a lot of good things in Newfoundland. We had youth camps, we got a lot of new owners. Our two and three-year-old population has increased. The horse population is really growing.
“We've done renovations,” added Whelan. “We keep buying new equipment to keep up with demand. Everything is going forward.”
Horse Racing New Brunswick executive director Jeff Malloy reported that the industry is also moving forward in New Brunswick evidenced by an increase in wagering.
“We had a good year one. Wagering was up 12 per cent in 2009 and we're up 20 per cent so far this year. With the increased wager we're looking to push the purse pool up."
The Atlantic Harness Racing Symposium will continue on Saturday featuring guest speakers Ted Smith, the CEO of Standardbred Canada, and Darryl Kaplan, Manager of Industry Communications and Editor of Trot Magazine. Also on the agenda for Saturday is a session titled Doing It Right, hosted by Dan Mailman, the Executive Director of Harness Racing Nova Scotia.