Trot Insider has learned that the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show in Simcoe, ON will not be hosting
harness racing in 2010.
The Simcoe fair had previously planned to host two dates of fair racing during its 170th year this October but has been forced to cancel both of those dates.
“We’re not getting enough support from the horsemen and I think the reason is because they don’t go for enough money,” explained race secretary Bob Kowalsky. “We tried to get some more money out of the OLG but they didn’t come through and help us out.”
Kowalsky said that it costs between $15,000 and $18,000 to run the racing programs and with low betting handles operations are not feasible.
“We just can’t finance it. It's a big expense to get a starting gate in here, and between all the judges and the starters and announcers and all that, it was just way too much money.
“It’s too bad because racing has been held here since as long as I can remember and for many years even before I was race secretary,” said the 64-year-old Simcoe resident, who took over the duties as race secretary in 1980 when his father in law, Hank Fess, retired.
Simcoe was one of the few remaining fairs in Ontario to host harness racing. Leamington, Forest, Wallace, Port Perry and Markham each scheduled one race date this year.
It was sad to learn of the
It was sad to learn of the cancellation of the
standardbred racing this year in simcoe. The same thing happened to the chariots and chuckwagons we where there for more than 30 years and we were cut from the program and that money was put towards the heavy horse show. I was told last year by a fair official that as long as flamboro was a sponsor there would be harness racing as they where listed as a sponsor for the 2010 fair. weird eh
I'm the president of
I'm the president of Southwestern Ontario Fair Circut and we have gave our starting gate to Simcoe Fair every year for their use at no charge. It has to be taken there from Wallacetown and that is the only cost.It's tough on all our fairs and we have to work together. Our starting gate is available to any fair if they have a way to get it there. It is Wallacetown's 135th year of racing and every year it gets harder to convince the fair board to keep on going because of the costs. Hopefully we can get some help from our goverment to keep the grass roots of harness racing still going.Our community loves racing and do whatever they can to support us but that sometimes isn't enough in these tough times. We are now the last fair racing for the year. Come and join us if possible October 2, at 2:00 pm. It's a great tradition.
I think it's a sad day for
I think it's a sad day for harness racing in Ontario...As a child I used to love to go to the falls fairs & grab myself a program & sit back & enjoy a great afternoon of fair racing...If you look at the USA they have tons of dates of fair racing since they're supported by their horsemen there...purses are huge...lots of stakes...You wonder why guys like Roger Hammer love this sport...he puts tons of time into driving at these fairs..It's not always about the $$$ ...what everyone seems to forget..it's about the love of the sport....the sport of harness racing...which is a dying breed in Ontario..Markham Fair seems to be one of a few that could survive...They have a nice track & if it was kept up maybe they could run once a week in the summer months...get support from the horsemen...maybe even stage some grassroots...OSS stakes for some of the horses...do some repairs to the track & once again give some life to the sport...If the OLG could see some type of potential in this sport maybe just maybe they could open up their wallets & support harness racing fairs in Ontario....there's got to be horsemen out there that would love to get their 2 year olds or 3 year olds out to the fair circuit & let their horses learn the game...what a better place to do it...If I had the money I'd start it up & get the support of the horsemen to want to bring their horses to Markham & run on a weekly or bi-weekly basis during the summer months to give this sport what it dearly needs....A LIFELINE.....
Frank Charamonte
This is crazy I raced my
This is crazy I raced my horse last year it was a really good thing to break her in and getting her used to being around other horses when she was first starting out and gives the owner and trainers a good chance to see what the horse is going to do.So somebody give the fairs chances.The purses might not be that great but who cares it gives horseman a good chance to see what a new horse is capable of.
Why does it always have to
Why does it always have to be 'GO BIG or GO HOME'? Doesn't anyone have a Starter Gate attached to their truck that could be used??
How else are we going to get young people interested in (fun) small town family events - that are more mentally challenging -- than playing Bingo!
It seems that sometimes you have to give up something special like the small town horse races, due to the lack of interest by our illustrious government officials who don't want to think of anything else, except for, how to roll in more slot revenue, why let people have a 'good time' spending their hard money -- if you don't have to?
We could run a contest for high school students to do the 'announcing' as a prize.
Let's think of a WAY to 'PROMOTE' - instead of NO WAY!
Isnt that just great - cant
Isnt that just great - cant get our Provincial government to support an agricultural fair to the tune of $15,000. From the OLG that is less than a drop in the bucket. Remember folks when time to vote.
Why would they have to go
Why would they have to go with two days. one should do it. i was expecting to race the two days if had to with 3 horses. and staying over if necessary. Why cant we just have the one saturday or even just the monday....... That new petition needs to kick in right now. promotion harness racing. This should be considered by all involved. ( simcoe fair ) thanks leo
There really should be some
There really should be some stipulation.
These fairs are called agricultural fairs...Harness racing falls into that category.
Demolition derbies do not.
As for the costs of the starting gate and Mutuels...Flamboro has stepped in the last couple of years to help out in this area.
No support from horsemen...They seem to fill the card every year and with the amount of horses who entered @ Port Perry this past weekend and Leamington earlier this year...I don't think Simcoe filling a box with 6 horses a race would be that much of a problem.
Too bad, considering Port
Too bad, considering Port Perry had a higher handle than Woodstock last weekend.
That is really sad to hear
That is really sad to hear that Simcoe will not be hosting fair racing this year. It was the county fairs where harness racing first hit the big time in Canada, where it was slowly accepted as an agricultural fair attraction in the late 1800s.
I think one of the steps in the Ontario RDSP is to go back to the roots of country fair racing in order to access the people. The "Sport of Kings" kept at the big tracks all their lives, and now there are only two thoroughbred tracks in Ontario (Woodbine, Fort Erie).
A good model to look at might be PEI's Matinee Program, which reaches out to the grassroots and makes the sport and the horses accessible to the fans. Ontario has just as rich a harness racing history as PEI, so I think some type of funding to support country fairs and local matinee/circuit racing should be included in the RDSP.
I'm a 26 year old racing fan from NB but currently living in Ottawa, if there was the opportunity to attend more country fair racing than the regular casino-driven nonsense, I would actually feel comfortable inviting someone out to enjoy the races.