The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. has announced another step in its integration of horse racing into the provincial gaming modernization. The OLG has announced that ‘The Canadian Triple Crown Instant game’ is now available at lottery retailers across Ontario.
A release from the OLG – the contents of which appear below – states that ‘launching the instant game will help increase public awareness of the industry while further demonstrating OLG's support for horse racing in Ontario.’ This past December, the OLG began to offer a horse-themed product called ‘Fire Horse,’ which was also part of racing’s integration into the OLG’s gaming modernization.
The OLG’s instant-game release has quoted the OLG’s senior vice president of Horse Racing, Cal Bricker, as saying that "The launch of the instant game will help build excitement around the three premier Thoroughbred races in the Canadian Triple Crown: the Queen's Plate, the Prince of Wales Stakes and the Breeders' Stakes. The Canadian Triple Crown Instant game is the latest horse-themed product launched by OLG and the first instant game of its kind available to customers."
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OLG launches THE CANADIAN TRIPLE CROWN INSTANT GAME
OLG is continuing to integrate horse racing into the provincial gaming strategy by launching THE CANADIAN TRIPLE CROWN INSTANT game, available now at lottery retailers across the province.
The INSTANT game costs $5 and features seven top prizes of $100,000. It also includes a second chance contest to win one of 10 VIP prize packages to the 2017 Queen's Plate.
"The launch of the INSTANT game will help build excitement around the three premier thoroughbred races in the Canadian Triple Crown: the Queen's Plate, the Prince of Wales Stakes and the Breeders' Stakes," said Cal Bricker, Senior Vice President, Horse Racing. "THE CANADIAN TRIPLE CROWN INSTANT game is the latest horse-themed product launched by OLG and the first INSTANT game of its kind available to customers."
Launching the INSTANT game will help increase public awareness of the industry while further demonstrating OLG's support for horse racing in Ontario.
OLG is continuing to work in partnership with the horse racing industry and Ontario government to help build a more sustainable future for the industry. Horse racing is vital to rural communities. The industry provides jobs for thousands of people across the province and is an important part of Ontario's rich heritage.
Right on Gary. It was the
Right on Gary. It was the first thing that hit me - what? No standardbred racing mentioned? Same old same old.
A bigger step would be to put
A bigger step would be to put the sports betting in all the racetracks instead of this talk of putting sports betting in bars across Ontario. C'mon Liberals please help out the horse racing industry.
Every step forward is a step
Every step forward is a step forward. I am glad to see horses on the tickets rather than stock cars or something else. With this step, the industry appears open to potentially more and perhaps bolder steps in the future, including revenue sharing and/or promotion of other major races. For now, we have to embrace that this will generate extra promotion and increased attendance, and a look back at where this industry was heading 3-5 years ago makes me realize this really is one more positive step forward. With every step, we're one step more solid, and those individual steps add up over time.
Not the best attempt, but if
Not the best attempt, but if you look at the fact this cost the government zero money for advertising, and will be at locations where people gamble, this is not the worst idea ever.
Think about it, we have all been to the store and someone is just hypnotized by the array of scratch tickets and possibilities, as a new game comes out, and there is info about horse racing, you are advertising to people that can relate.
Horseman have to realize one thing, and this really needs to sink in, you can't think you are close to being a mainstream sport enough to last on your own, when you race in front of empty grandstands. The wheel needs to be reinvented for harness to become anything close to relevant in today's entertainment/gambling world.
This was not a great start, but I understand and respect the rationale behind it.
This lottery has nothing to
This lottery has nothing to do with harness racing. It does not give the harness horse industry one red cent. Who cares, why post this on a standardbred site?
THIS IS STANDARDBREDCANADA
NOT THOROUGHBREDCANADA
NOT QUEENSPLATECANADA
NOT OLGPRESSRELEASECANADA
If it has no benefit and is not associated with harness racing it should not be news here. I find it mindboggling at some of the releases. They are direct slaps in the face to everyone in this industry who works hard. Why the heck would I care if they come out with a new game when it has nothing to do with harness racing.
In reply to This lottery has nothing to by Gary Blackburn
Mr Blackburn, if you think a
Mr Blackburn, if you think a little outside the box here, horse racing in general, standardbred, or the runners, is WAYYYYYYYYYYY behind in the gambling game these days. Any exposure is good exposure right now. If the runners get people back to the game that can only help you as the runners only have a limited schedule and reach for fans to attend. Harness is everywhere.
You need to understand that sometimes you need to play your biggest cards first, and the runners and the Plate are by far the biggest in this province from both a history and importance.
I really do not think you should talk about slaps to the face. It's a slap in the face to us that work in one industry, have to generate our own business to survive, where as harness survived off another industry (slots)or harness would have disappeared from all but 4 tracks in this province. It's a slap in the face that us gamblers never received a penny from the slot revenue, not in the form of special contests with say a $10k jackpot courtesy slot revenue. Not a single benefit was given to us fans that had a monetary value from slots, but you want us gamblers to support you in getting slots back? We have other avenues to gamble, Mr Blackburn. What is a slap in the face, is you want to force places to stay open for you to race at despite attendance being low most of the time...... and what makes it worse, attendance is near zero, DESPITE BEING FREE.
If you cant see how this benefits horse racing, and brings awareness, then you should just leave the advertising and the plan to fix this, to others. This makes sense. Scratch lottery ticket players, are gamblers...... and they are the people that should be made aware that you guys even race in this province.
I mean no disrespect, but its time some horseman start thinking way outside the box. Harness is far behind right now, and you need a starting point. This ain't much, but this is something.
This OLG's idea of
This OLG's idea of integration? Put on a horses picture and name it after a race with no revenue to the industry ? Here's a bet I would like to see at the tracks, random pick 3 or 4's on races that pay a fixed amount same as OLG's daily pick 3 or 4's (30-40% takeout?) . Good for the novice gambler as they learn to handicap and even veteran gamblers might take a random shot at a $600 or $700 payoff for a dollar or two. Random picks with large payoffs may attract slots players also. OLG has made it abundantly clear through its actions there will be no revenue sharing with the industry.
Token. No proceeds directly
Token. No proceeds directly back to Racing, it doesn't appear. How about a game that is related directly to our product on the track. So we could possibly profit directly from the gambling and the promotion. People might actually be interested in our race results. I can't even believe this news item bears reporting in our business. The only part that's racing related is it's name and some VIP passes to NEXT year's Queen's Plate! And thoroughbred theme to boot.
It would be nice to see them
It would be nice to see them develop wagering at OLG kiosks on races where we see a direct percentage of proceeds. This would allow our product to reach a much wider audience as is done in Europe.
As far as integration goes, I'm still trying to understand how the Slots At Racetracks Partnership agreement was defined as a subsidy by the Liberal government. Now we are receiving a complete subsidy from the government and in the press release they call it a partnership. Maybe my reading comprehension is flawed?
Great outside the box idea,
Great outside the box idea, instant win is exciting but 2nd chance should not involve 2017 Queens Plate but this year's if you want to capture the interest of ticket buyers. Hoping the new marketing director takes note, what % of profits roll back to the pockets of the horse racing industry... if any?