The new harness racing track in Manitoba has been hit with more unfortunate delays.
Standardbreds were supposed to start their season at The Loop this upcoming Saturday (Aug. 27) but racing fans will have to wait just a bit longer.
Garth Rogerson, CEO of The Red River Exhibition Association had the following comment.
“I have come to learn how hard it is to build a new facility in the wettest year on record, including two significant rainstorms in the last seven days,” said Rogerson. “Our biggest issue is compaction of the surface. If the weather holds, we should be back working on the surface [Wednesday]. Given these ongoing challenges it is clear this will be a short season with potentially six days of racing. This will allow us to work out the bugs and be ready for a full season in 2023.
“We are building for the long term so we want to do things right and sometimes that takes extra time, but the effort will be worth it.”
The new tentative start date at The Loop will be Saturday, Sept. 17.
(A Trot Insider exclusive by Trey Colbeck)