Province gives horse racing industry $400M
Oct 11, 2013 7:32:52 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on Oct 11, 2013 7:32:52 GMT -5
This is not good news for Fort Erie. Will this succeed as a plan?
Province gives horse racing industry $400M
New central body will be responsible for improving accountability and transparency in the sport, which has faltered since Slots at Racetracks program ended.
Toronto Star
By: Mary Ormsby
The province will inject $400 million over five years into Ontario’s cash-strapped horse racing industry, with most of that going to purse money.
A new sustainability plan, which will invest up to $80 million annually beginning April 1 of next year, is based on recommendations made by the Horse Racing Industry Transition panel to Premier Kathleen Wynne, who is also the minister of agriculture and food. The “five-year partnership plan” runs through March 31, 2019.
The new funds are about half of what Ontario’s racetracks were receiving for purses annually under the former Slots at Racetracks Program. The slots deals were cancelled last year, leaving the industry — which received $3.7 billion in total from sharing gaming revenues with government since 1998 — in turmoil.
Wynne is scheduled to reveal the plan Friday morning at the Grand River Raceway in Elora.
According to a briefing note, a new organization called Ontario Live Racing “will be responsible for the channeling of public funds to the industry.”
Details from the new plan will shake up the industry, from the smallest racetrack in rural Ontario to the Toronto offices of the sport’s regulator, the Ontario Racing Commission, according to government sources with knowledge of the changes.
Eight centrally located tracks will form a standardbred racing alliance to operate a world-class competition circuit. The tracks are Woodbine, Mohawk, Western Fair, Flamboro Downs, Georgian Downs, Grand River, Hanover and Clinton. This circuit will get the majority of the purse funds, approximately 90 percent, according to sources. Some of that $400 million will also cover direct costs of live horse racing.
These eight tracks reflect geographical areas with a high concentration of horse people (the industry supports upwards of 20,000 jobs) and a large population of quality racing animals.
The remainder of the funds, about 10 percent, will flow to regional tracks to support grassroots racing.
Woodbine may also become Ontario’s lone thoroughbred track.
Woodbine’s only competition, historic Fort Erie, was not deemed sustainable by the panel as a full-time racing venue. The 116-year-old border oval is being considered to host a “festival meet” with thoroughbreds shipped in on race days only, instead of being stabled there full time. Long-term stabling is one reason thoroughbred racing is so costly.
“Consolidating most, if not all, thoroughbred racing at one track, Woodbine, represents the best business case for the industry and the taxpayer,” according to a briefing note.
The sport will also have new governance.
The anchor will be the central organization, called Ontario Live Racing. It will have three race breed divisions: Standardbred Live, Thoroughbred Live and Quarter Horse Live.
Ontario Live Racing will be responsible for disbursing public funds to the industry while ensuring its objectives — including transparency, accountability, customer focus and a positive return for Ontario taxpayers — are met. Track operators must deliver a business/feasibility plan to Ontario Live Racing and agree to meet accountability and transparency requirements in order to access public funds.
The Ontario Racing Commission, formerly a regulatory and adjudicative body, will be restructured to manage the development side of horse racing. Elmer Buchanan, one of three panel members and a former cabinet minister, is to be installed in the racing commission.
Two other panel members, also former cabinet ministers, will take ongoing roles in the sport, according to sources. John Snobelen will head up Ontario Live Racing, while John Wilkinson will work with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. to integrate horse racing into OLG’s modernization plan.
The $400 million infusion of taxpayer funds comes from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. That, in addition to rent from OLG to track operators for housing slot machines on their premises, and the pari-mutuel tax reduction on wagering revenue, brings the new five-year provincial funding total to over $1 billion.
Race horse breeders will also continue to receive money through the Horse Improvement Program, funded at $30 million a year.
Currently, the horse racing industry exists on $180 million in transition funding that was originally to be used over three years beginning April 1 of 2013. That money will be rolled into the $400 million beginning next year.
Province gives horse racing industry $400M
New central body will be responsible for improving accountability and transparency in the sport, which has faltered since Slots at Racetracks program ended.
Toronto Star
By: Mary Ormsby
The province will inject $400 million over five years into Ontario’s cash-strapped horse racing industry, with most of that going to purse money.
A new sustainability plan, which will invest up to $80 million annually beginning April 1 of next year, is based on recommendations made by the Horse Racing Industry Transition panel to Premier Kathleen Wynne, who is also the minister of agriculture and food. The “five-year partnership plan” runs through March 31, 2019.
The new funds are about half of what Ontario’s racetracks were receiving for purses annually under the former Slots at Racetracks Program. The slots deals were cancelled last year, leaving the industry — which received $3.7 billion in total from sharing gaming revenues with government since 1998 — in turmoil.
Wynne is scheduled to reveal the plan Friday morning at the Grand River Raceway in Elora.
According to a briefing note, a new organization called Ontario Live Racing “will be responsible for the channeling of public funds to the industry.”
Details from the new plan will shake up the industry, from the smallest racetrack in rural Ontario to the Toronto offices of the sport’s regulator, the Ontario Racing Commission, according to government sources with knowledge of the changes.
Eight centrally located tracks will form a standardbred racing alliance to operate a world-class competition circuit. The tracks are Woodbine, Mohawk, Western Fair, Flamboro Downs, Georgian Downs, Grand River, Hanover and Clinton. This circuit will get the majority of the purse funds, approximately 90 percent, according to sources. Some of that $400 million will also cover direct costs of live horse racing.
These eight tracks reflect geographical areas with a high concentration of horse people (the industry supports upwards of 20,000 jobs) and a large population of quality racing animals.
The remainder of the funds, about 10 percent, will flow to regional tracks to support grassroots racing.
Woodbine may also become Ontario’s lone thoroughbred track.
Woodbine’s only competition, historic Fort Erie, was not deemed sustainable by the panel as a full-time racing venue. The 116-year-old border oval is being considered to host a “festival meet” with thoroughbreds shipped in on race days only, instead of being stabled there full time. Long-term stabling is one reason thoroughbred racing is so costly.
“Consolidating most, if not all, thoroughbred racing at one track, Woodbine, represents the best business case for the industry and the taxpayer,” according to a briefing note.
The sport will also have new governance.
The anchor will be the central organization, called Ontario Live Racing. It will have three race breed divisions: Standardbred Live, Thoroughbred Live and Quarter Horse Live.
Ontario Live Racing will be responsible for disbursing public funds to the industry while ensuring its objectives — including transparency, accountability, customer focus and a positive return for Ontario taxpayers — are met. Track operators must deliver a business/feasibility plan to Ontario Live Racing and agree to meet accountability and transparency requirements in order to access public funds.
The Ontario Racing Commission, formerly a regulatory and adjudicative body, will be restructured to manage the development side of horse racing. Elmer Buchanan, one of three panel members and a former cabinet minister, is to be installed in the racing commission.
Two other panel members, also former cabinet ministers, will take ongoing roles in the sport, according to sources. John Snobelen will head up Ontario Live Racing, while John Wilkinson will work with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. to integrate horse racing into OLG’s modernization plan.
The $400 million infusion of taxpayer funds comes from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. That, in addition to rent from OLG to track operators for housing slot machines on their premises, and the pari-mutuel tax reduction on wagering revenue, brings the new five-year provincial funding total to over $1 billion.
Race horse breeders will also continue to receive money through the Horse Improvement Program, funded at $30 million a year.
Currently, the horse racing industry exists on $180 million in transition funding that was originally to be used over three years beginning April 1 of 2013. That money will be rolled into the $400 million beginning next year.
