On Tuesday (April 6) Ontario Racing issued a notice to the harness racing industry regarding support payments for the cancelled race cards that were slated to be conducted at The Raceway at the Western Fair District, Rideau Carleton Raceway and Woodbine Mohawk Park earlier this month.
The release is as follows:
Ontario Racing is pleased to notify industry participants that Standardbred horsepeople affected by the cancellation of race cards for Woodbine Mohawk Park (April 3, 2021), The Raceway at Western Fair District (April 3, 2021) and Rideau Carleton Raceway (April 4, 2021), due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will receive a one-time payment of $300 for each horse drawn into race on the specified days.
The number of horses, 310 in total, affected by the cancellation of races due to the Ontario Government’s latest lockdown measures put into effect on April 3, 2021, are as follows: Woodbine Mohawk Park – 103 horses, The Raceway at Western Fair District – 78 horses, and Rideau Carleton Raceway – 129 horses.
These funds were already committed to the industry through the Funding Agreement for Live Horse Racing between Ontario Racing and OLG. The support payments will be mailed out in the coming days.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontario Racing created a task force, as it did during the spring 2020 lockdown, to address the financial impacts to Standardbred horse racing in Ontario.
(Ontario Racing)