Editorial: Ontario Long-Term Funding Plan

I dont understand the comments. 105 millions for 19 years, and your asking if this will be enough money.....how about we take action to make our business successfull, to grow our sport, to grow our fan base, that we actually look at our sport like a business and not like a sport that tax dollars need to pay for. Name the businesses that have been loosing money for 25 years and have not filed for an assignment in bankruptcy or closed.

Kawartha, Sudbury, Georgian (which If I remember didn't even want more racing dates, they only wanted the casinos)...they cant survive the handle is not there, who will pay the bills???? My tax dollars???? Because you want a track in your backyard??? Businesses go where the money is...plain and simple...those who dont... close. If in 19 years the only money we still have is tax dollar money and we haven't made our game successful...it should close.

Stop talking like the government owes you something...IT DONT!I've been a Trustee for a number of years and no other businesses gets money from the government when they fail to make a profit for 25 years. We are lucky to be in this position, some people have made a great job lobbying and negotiating to keep us alive and the only thing we can do is complain for more...lets run this show like its a business and make the money needed to increase purses and increase profit for all stakeholders.

If we need to close some tracks to increases purses in other B track so we can make money BE IT! If you dont want to travel, move or quit , no one is bigger than the game. Thats what people do when they want a job.

Now lets put business people in place, not a committee of former drivers or older trainers or a committee formed by friends that knows horses but dont know how to run a business. Business people with degrees in business that has good idea how to run a business and that members can vote in or out every 2 years depending on their success, not a government guy that doesn't know how to run a french fry truck (thats what we have at OMG right now).

We have a chance to make good, lets not loose this chance.

Does anyone really believe that there will be harness racing at all in Ontario in 19 years? Perhaps at WEG but not likely at any other current track. Nick has the reality of it laid out pretty well. What is $105 million going to be worth throughout those 19 years? If all other tracks close and WEG gets the entire pot (such as it is), there might be a product. More likely not. We have a shortage of horses right now. How is this going to encourage anyone to get involved and invested in our industry going forward? Close down the feeder tracks and lose more horses, more investors/supporters. Out of sight--out of mind! Seventeen days to make a decision of this magnitude and importance that could very well be the end of involvement for so many of us in rural Ontario is ridiculous. The powers that be are twisting our arms behind our backs to get this approved before the election. How is that right or fair to anyone who already has only their nose just above water? Of course, when was horse racing ever "fair"?

Well said Nick Boyd Maybe now for all the nay sayers out there condemning the people for not signing. Trying to do what is best for their track and the interests of the their horseman. Maybe now people can get behind their tracks and be supportive in this process. That might mean standing up to WEG. I still say and have always said we need a horseman's group that represent the horseman's best interest. Not someone who is looking after Weg's best interest. I do not know how this would happen but hope it does. One thing I do not understand is when a track like Kawartha had a great meet last year ask for more dates it was just a flat out NO with out explanation of why not. OK maybe not get all the dates but even if given 5 more dates to show good faith in a job well done. Now being told if you do not sign they will just give your race dates to another track. How can that be when apparently it is a due process. I also feel strongly that if we are trying to bring people into the sport new owners who maybe want to just race at local tracks like Kawartha how would it be possible with the such low purses and few dates. No chance of making money. Georgian could be a great track for new owners lots of population but they do not want just to race for 3 months. Why not race every Sunday for 10 months. Instead 3 days a week for 3 months. DIVIDE AND CONQUER. Just sayin...
Ronda Markle

Shocking that the NDP/PC long term funding plans for the race industry has not been presented/discussed? it's not a ONE horse race their are other entries in the field!

Had Dan’s business background been in horse racing, I believe his editorial would have been completely different. I agree with Nick 100%. Leaving ORM in control would lead to the demise of the B tracks. At present, the government has created Ontario Racing. As stated on their web site, Ontario Racing is committed to listening to horsepeople and giving them a voice, in support of a vibrant racing industry. This hasn’t happened in regards to race dates, purses, post times....the list goes on. By having ORM and OR in control, it will only get worse.

With all due respect to Mr. Gall Im not quite sure why there is such urgency to sign a 19 year deal that offers as much vagueness as it does long term security?!

Under our current transition funding we receive $91.4 million for purses and operational costs. Many industry participants in all facets agree that outside of racing at WEG its near impossible to make a profit, let alone hit a break even model. 2 of the 5 Signature tracks are seasonal and run abbreviated schedules to fill the summer gap when Western Fair and Flamboro are closed down. For participants not competing at WEG and not living near a Signature track, you've essentially been demoted to a hobbyist, unless you can stomach the trucking costs associated with travelling hours at $1.30/litre.

The new agreement sees the purse and operational funding of $91.4 million stay consistent, with a small contingency of $4 million that 6 signature and 6 grassroots tracks can pull from. If divided up equally for strictly purses, it allows for a few additional dates per year at each of those tracks. Otherwise, the structure for race dates and purse levels remain the same as we currently run. The only way for a track to receive more race dates or purse funding is: A) another track gives up dates or closes altogether B) they find private funding to run more dates or higher purses.

While there is a $4 million purse increase (4.4%), the administration budget goes from $2 million to $3.4 million (70% increase) and Capital Improvements Budget for Racetracks goes from $0 to $6 million. The administration will be run by Ontario Racing Management, a subsidiary (a company controlled by a holding company) of WEG. This board is comprised of 11 directors representing various facets of all three breeds. To my knowledge, the Standardbred horse people have not had a chance to vote on or nominate their representative (they will not get to do so until April 2019, after this MAJOR decision has been made).

Furthermore, the new 19 year agreement allows for Ontario Racing Management (ORM) to decide starting year 3 which tracks shall receive funding and dates, and which tracks shall not. There are no guarantees that because a track signs the agreement they have "secured funding stability". Similarly, the ORM will have the discretion which tracks receive supplementary funding from the $4 million contingency. Again, thus leaving no assurances that because a track is wanting and willing to race that they will receive the funds to do so. While my views on the necessary contraction to make things viable may line up with some tracks closing, I think its a conflict of interest when an organization (ORM) which is a branch of WEG gets to make these decisions. Had this administration been left in the hands of a non partisan group, I believe these decisions could be agreed upon with more of an industry confidence.

In concluding, if the industry feels that proceeding forward for the next 19 years at the same rate we have since SARP ended, then the 19 year deal provides secured long term funding. If the industry as a whole recognizes that current levels are unsustainable, and there's a need to account for inflation, then this 19 year deal is suspect at best. The ONLY security we the horse people and various racetracks have is for 2 YEARS. After that, its anybodys guess as to who and what is secure.

I believe if this deal provided more details on what stipulations could guarantee a track "security" past year 2, it may give more confidence to move forward. Its unfortunate that much of this deal has been left very vague with no true presentation to all industry participants on the finer details. Most see numbers of 19 years and $2 billion as large numbers. Similarly they see the increase from $93.4 to $105 per year as a big increase. What gets lost in translation is that the $11 million increase is $7 administration, $4 million horse people. Lost even further are the bettors, who are still getting hit with high takeout rates that drive them away, when the total handle will play a major role in the funding from year 3 to 19 as we attempt to make our industry self sustaining, and eliminate government funding, as per the funding model in this 19 year agreement.

A deal of this magnitude and length should not have a quick deadline, nor should it have such vague details. If the goal to making racing for more sustainable requires track closures, this should be laid out with a proper exit strategy. As it stands, Ontario Racing Management can do to any racetrack after year 2, exactly what the Liberal government did to us in 2012 when they pulled the plug on SARP. Again, while contraction may be necessary, it can be prepared for when laid out better. The agreement was made available to the public on April 13, a mere 17 days before the agreement was to be signed and finalized. 17 whole days to make a decision on the next 19 years (6,935 days) of our future!

Very well said and Im sure agreed by most.

The question is who is stalling this? Whos sitting on this offer?

Plan B, ask the province of Quebec...when the government pulled out the funding it took about 6 months to close all racetracks....Blue Bonnet,Connaught Park/Aylmer, trois rivieres.

There are way too many people handling and making decision for our sports and they all have different agendas. The mandate our industry has given itself does not flow. We have made great progress in the past 3 years but we need to accept this offer and move forward, we still have lots of work to do.

1- Bring new owners and fans to our business
2- Bring new owners and fans to our business and
3- Bring new owners and fans to our business

And for that we need to change the way we structure our races:

1- Reduce the condition races by half (keep nw of 15K, 30K 50K 75K and 100K lifetime with allowance for Ontario horses to promote our breeding)
2- Implement new claiming races/series (how can we get new owners without having horses to claim????)The new owners will bring family and friends to the track and increase fan base and intake (our goal....our goal...our goal)
3- Implement a new rule that a claimer can not leave the province, once claim, for 6 months or 12 months. If not we will reduce the number of horses to other provinces/country.
4- Abolish dummy claimers at least on A track Mohawk should never be allowed to take horses that belongs on B tracks and run those dogs on the A track. The value does not reflect the quality of the horses
5- More transparency: When a horse is claim and more than 1 claim, do the draw in public, find a place (beside security?) But show the result and all the balls that has other names...right now its a joke.
6- We need to address trainers with defacto names that cheats (be more severe with penalties/rules)
7- Give to bettors (betting voucher to casino gamblers to introduce them to our sport, a card that give points/cash to every bet made and once threshold are met they have a 2/5/10 dollar free bet/With money saved during bad weather days use that money to offer young people scholarship (bring a younger crowd) Need to give back to our bigger gamblers. Come on people this is a business....

You will get those trainers and owners that will complain about keeping their horse that makes 30K a year, but long term its not good for our sport..Everyone will adjust.WE need to do whats right for our sports long term.

With those changes (which could be done easily, without too much expenses, and needs to be done right away) the numbers of new owners would increase by lots increasing by the same time our fan base and intake.

Hopefully this happens soon cause without those changes we will live on the government money until we run out, same as when we had the slot deal....we never made changes and hoped those miracle would keep on coming....

An owner and a fan of our great sport

Michel.