When it comes to harness racing I am generally not much of a traditionalist. If it attracts people to watch, wager and participate in the sport in a meaningful way, I believe we should be open to it.
But when I read that Charlottetown Driving Park and Summerside Raceway were being renamed Red Shores Racetrack and Casino and Red Shores at Summerside respectively, I was less than impressed.
As the 50th Anniversary of the Gold Cup and Saucer approaches, it seems an odd time to strip the long-standing name of 100 plus years away from the racetrack. Being there for the 49th edition, I can tell you that more so than anywhere else in Canada, the CDP has a meaningful history to the people of Prince Edward Island and tourists alike.
As I travelled the province I was asked by complete strangers if I was going to ‘the race.’
While horse racing has a tough time these days resting on its history, if you’re in Kentucky during the first week of May or PEI during Old Home Week, tradition wins over. And no there are no plans to change the name of Churchill Downs or dismantle the Twin Spires.
So why ‘Red Shores’ and why now?
It seems the Atlantic Lottery Corporation consulted employees, players and focus groups to come up with the name. Sounds fair enough. In fact I have little doubt that the decision to make the change was well researched and thought-out with the ultimate goal of bringing more people to the facility and more money through the doors.
If I were to build a casino, I might call it ‘Red Shores.’ There are already casinos named Red Rock, Red Hawk, Cherry Red, 32 Red, Vegas Red and Lucky Red. Apparently the ALC is onto the right colour. But Charlottetown Driving Park and Summerside Raceway are racetracks, not casinos.
The problem is that seemingly every time a racino, casino or entertainment centre makes a move it quietly divests itself of horse racing. Pompano Park was renamed Isle of Capri, Pocono Downs rebranded The Mohegan Sun and Penn National dubbed the Hollywood Casino. Dozens of racetrack websites look like casino sites with the obligatory “click here for horse racing” button somewhere on the bottom half of the page. And the facilities are more often than not streamlined to bring customers to isolated, cordoned off casinos rather than increasingly abandoned racetracks.
In Prince Edward Island where horse racing still has a place in travel brochures, where government plays an active and commendable role in maintaining the future of the sport, and where the Lottery Corporation sees itself as a true partner of racing, the sport is still a powerful sporting and gaming option. Harness Racing PEI, with very limited resources, has done some truly great things for horse racing in the maritimes.
And it is for that reason that this decision is so frustrating.
Casinos, racinos and ludoplexes will take horse racing to a place it one day won’t be able to recover from. And rebranding facilities to compete with thousands of similarly marketed casinos around the world may serve the bottom line in the short-term, but not the future of the sport we all love.
Worth Mentioning…
I can’t recall a 10-day period with more unique Canadian racing events scheduled than the end of August. Adrenaline Festival in Sarnia (Aug. 20 to 23), the 50th Gold Cup and Saucer in Charlottetown (Aug. 22), Legends Day in Clinton (Aug. 23), Night of Champions in Ottawa (Aug. 23), Xtreme Day at Georgian Downs (Aug. 29), and the 100th edition of Le 5 Milles in Quebec City (Aug. 30).
Hopefully we all can attend at least one.