With its inaugural day in early September boasting an overflow attendance of 6,000, the Quebec Jockey Club is well on its way to offering new hope for the rebuilding of the province’s horse racing industry.
Story by Paul Delean. Photographed by J.M. Duddin & Sylvain Gagnon
QUEBEC USED TO BE ONE OF HARNESS RACING'S PREMIER MARKETS, attracting top-level competition and on-track wagering that averaged as much as $1 million per card in Montreal. Then three years ago, there was nothing left. Racetrack operator Attractions Hippiques went bankrupt and all four racetracks closed.
Enter the Quebec Jockey Club, a small group of businessmen/volunteers with an earnest desire to resuscitate the sport and give it a future. Using proceeds from Internet wagering, the non-profit QJC funded fair racing in the province and a limited number of live programs at Hippodrome de Quebec in Quebec City, starting in 2010. That ended abruptly earlier this year with the announcement the Quebec City track was being bulldozed for a new arena. Suddenly homeless, the QJC set about finding a replacement, and in the spring inked a deal to purchase the vacant Hippodrome Trois-Rivieres for $4 million. In September, the QJC launched its first 10-day live meet at the track (now renamed Hippodrome 3R).
Reporter Paul Delean recently sat down at the track with QJC's chairman, longtime horse owner Tony Infilise, and general manager Vincent Trudel to discuss the journey so far and plans for the future. This is a transcript of that conversation.
Q: The obvious first question is why have you bought a racetrack in what is clearly a challenging period for the horse racing industry throughout North America?
INFILISE: We actually had planned to stay in Quebec City for a period of time, but the mayor and his entourage decided to build a new arena on the actual site of the hippodrome, so we were asked to leave. We needed a home, a place where we could not be expropriated or turfed out on short notice as we were in Quebec City. The options were Trois-Rivieres and Bedford (a small town in Quebec's Eastern Townships). We could build a viable case for Bedford, where fair racing is well established, and were seriously considering it because of its tremendous passion for horse racing, and having it as a viable option quite frankly helped us reduce the purchase price (for Trois-Rivieres).
We were caught by surprise by what happened in Quebec City. But we recovered, and this is a much better situation.
Q: The Quebec Jockey Club is a non-profit corporation. How can it afford such a purchase?
INFILISE: We obtained and commenced operating our Internet licence in March of 2010, which gave us exclusivity on horse race wagering [in the province] as of that date, and were able to get that going in partnership with Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG), which provided all the back office and arrangements in exchange for a commission. It gave us a source of revenue... our only one initially. That allowed us to present live racing. We don't make a profit with the live dates, because we pay out more in purses than our share of the betting, but we've been very careful about our spending and that helped us when we needed help to make this deal. Finding financing for any non-profit corporation is not easy, especially at normal, senior-debt rates, but our track record of sound financial management the two previous years, our business model, plus the team involved and the experience and accomplishments of the (QJC board) members, made the bank comfortable enough to make a loan. We're running it like a private company and they saw that. We were able to get a $3-million mortgage from National Bank - of which one-third is guaranteed by six members of the board. We bought the track for $4 million from one of Senator Paul Massicotte's companies, which had repurchased the interests of (Attractions Hippiques' ) guaranteed creditors, including this asset. It wasn't an easy negotiation, but it was professional and cordial and we eventually came to a deal.
Q: What's the strategy for this particular track and affiliated QJC operations over the next couple of years?
INFILISE: This will be the hub. We want to provide racing that's attractive to fans and the betting public while favouring Quebec-breds. We want to be able to sell our signal via intertrack betting across Canada and the United States. We selected [race] times conducive to building better interest. For horse owners, there will be some damn good money available for Quebec-breds in 2013, 2014 and 2015 because there were relatively few horses bred here. That'll create some value and maybe give some relief to breeders. Our conservative projections are $1.6 million in purses next year, $2 million the year after and $2.5 million the year after that. We've got two teletheatres open already, plus the intertrack betting centre at the track. Come next summer, we should have 10 teletheatres open. That should allow us to largely reach our objective on betting parlours.
Q: How important is a Montreal track to the QJC vision?
INFILISE: It's one of the top planks, a key to the future success and viability of the industry. The majority of horse owners are from the Montreal area. Most of the off-track betting is there. We just have to prove ourselves here, show we're competent managers, build up purses here, find a winning formula to be able to finance a track in the greater Montreal area. We want two tracks in Quebec with complementary programs. This is a beautiful facility and deserves high quality racing; so will Montreal.
Q: Vincent, you used to work at (provincial lottery corporation) Loto-Quebec. Historically, its relationship with the horse racing industry has been rocky. What connection, if any, do you see or hope to see between the two in the future?
TRUDEL: I see some business opportunities that we could develop with Loto-Quebec. Look what other countries are doing - things like the PMU in France, where they have more than 10,000 points of sale and 9.5 billion euros in parimutuel (betting).
INFILISE: We're on good terms with Loto-Quebec. We're actually partners in the building (in Trois-Rivieres, where Loto-Quebec's gaming centre adjoins the racetrack clubhouse). We have a common interest, and already have common initiatives, to drive fans to this site. We're looking for win-win opportunities to build on that start. What's good for the gaming hall is good for us, and vice versa.
Q: You have taken a very conservative, low-key, non-confrontational approach since the birth of the QJC in 2009. That's a bit of a departure for what has been a very fragmented and fractious industry. What motivated that?
INFILISE: We aren't there to try to debate what happened in the past. We had to be positive, look forward and be unified. It was not easy to have people understand 'we are they, they are us, there's no conflict of interest.' All the surplus goes to the horsemen and industry. But we have to speak with one voice to the authorities. We made that a priority. Without unity, nothing would be possible. We also chose not to attack the government for their historical positions. We wanted a completely fresh start. And I think we've made strides in convincing the politicians and civil servants we have a viable model.
Q: The QJC has had numerous membership changes in its brief existence. Why is that?
INFILISE: Several members thought we were too small potatoes. At first, we were trying to buy the assets of Attractions Hippiques before it went to negative value and when that didn't happen, some members lost interest. They didn't want to start from scratch and follow the step-by-step, rather modest course that we took. Some of it was painfully slow. Farms and breeders were going bankrupt, horse owners were losing large sums of money, and we were taking baby steps. But a number of us felt there was no other way. We had to rebuild our credibility and wait for the numbers to build.
Q: Does a change of government in Quebec change or complicate your plans in any way?
INFILISE: There were no agreements with the (outgoing) Liberals. We have talked to all the parties. It's in the interest of any government to listen to us; we're an important voice in the gaming and agricultural sectors. If you're looking to create jobs, we're part of that solution.
Q: Integrity is a word that comes up often in your discourse, and you now oblige participants to sign a form pledging to respect - a list of rules before allowing them to race horses. Why is that so important?
INFILISE: We want people to understand that, for us to have new betting products, obviously there has to be great confidence in the integrity of the product. That's a critical element of our future success. It's in everybody's interest; it's everybody's responsibility. Our objective is to follow a similar rigour to WEG, despite our much smaller size. We have the same philosophy, the same objectives as they do. And I must say, we've been very happy with the reception and support of the executives and rank and file of ATAQ (the provincial horsemen's association).
Q: You've begun charging $25 for qualifiers. How has that gone over?
INFILISE: There were questions at first. The way we explained it is this: we're trying to get by, everybody has to pitch in. Six of us guaranteed $1 million so we could have this place; everybody can pay $25 for qualifiers. It's their way to pay a bit of the freight, a bit of the mortgage. It's their way of contributing to the success and financial well being of the QJC. This place belongs to them. They should feel some ownership. And it's cheaper than driving to Rideau Carleton.
TRUDEL: There were comments before its implementation. None since.
Q: Why did the previous operator of Quebec tracks fail and how will you be able to avoid a similar fate without VLTs?
INFILISE: One of our guiding principles is not to talk about what failed in the past. It doesn't serve any purpose. We know we have a different model. We're non-political. We consult the horsemen and the industry. We manage it as a tightly-run and controlled business as far as expenses and revenue. We watch our cash flow like hawks. It's allowed us to get where we are today. We purposely don't want more than 10 members (on the board), because we want to be able to make decisions without wasting time and focus on executing.
Q: Are you where you imagined you'd be when the QJC started up three years ago?
INFILISE: We're a little behind where I'd like to be sitting. It took two years and two months to have the rule changes allowing us to open betting parlours. We have been limping along financially, unable to provide the level of purses we'd have hoped. Our hope also was to stay (at Hippodrome de Quebec) for much longer than we did. It took financial resources to make an initial deposit of $500,000 and we now have a monthly mortgage (on Hippodrome 3R). We just had to adjust.
Q: How long do you think it will be before the horse racing industry in Quebec can once again sustain its own horsemen and breeders?
INFILISE: It's hard to a put a date on that. It'll be progressive. At $4 million (in annual purses), it'll still be tight. Some people can live on that. There will be some breeding, but it won't be a viable industry. To a have a truly viable industry, you'll need $10-$12 million, I would like to think in five years we'll be at that level. That is what we're working towards. And it's in the interests of all Quebecers that it happen.