It could be good News for Centre Wellington and the provincial horse racing industry.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne was at the Grand River Raceway on Oct. 11 to announce the release of a five-year, $400-million plan for “a sustainable horse racing industry” in the province – based on the final Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel report.
“When I came into this office, I talked about this during my leadership race, that I really felt strongly about having a sustainable horse racing industry was important to the province,” Wynne said.
She added it is important “because of the jobs involved, and it is part of the history and culture of Ontario.” Wynne said the associated jobs are incredibly important to rural and northern Ontario.
“This is the fulfillment of my commitment for a plan that gives horse racing a sure footing moving forward.” She said the plan was crafted with the input of many of the people in attendance at the announcement last Friday.
“I know they talked to literally thousands of people across the province with expertise,” she said of the three-member transition panel.
Wynne argued that what existed before was not sustainable over the long term.
“When I became premier, I made this commitment. I recognized if it is my responsibility to create jobs and grow the economy in every part of Ontario, I think we have to support hard-working people in every region of the province,” she said.
Wynne explained part of the new plan is to invest up to $400 million over five years to sustain a wide range of racing opportunities she says are supported by strong business plans.
“We’re going to help support an industry which has the capacity to plan for the future, so we see this as
an investment in the future.”
She said the plan will support a model of world class standardbred, thoroughbred and quarter horse racing and will benefit the entire industry.
Wynne added, “the timing of the announcement is getting the information out early enough so there would be some certainty as to what was happening … But to make the industry sustainable, there have to be some changes.”
She said integrating horse racing with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) modernization plan is one of those changes.
This could mean researching potential horse-themed lottery products and leveraging the OLG marketing and responsible gambling expertise to expand the fan base of the horse racing industry, Wynne said.
Another change involves restructuring the Ontario Racing Commission (ORC) into two divisions – one that will continue its existing regulatory functions and a separate division that will distribute funding and work with the OLG on business and marketing projects.
Wynne added ORC chair Rod Seiling has stepped down and transition panel member Elmer Buchanan has been nominated as the new ORC chairman. She added to succeed, there needs to be new models of cooperation and partnerships.
“I am really confident this plan will give everyone a chance to plan for future success,” said Wynne.
“We know how important the horse racing industry is to communities all across Ontario. That’s why our government has worked with industry and community representatives to develop a five-year plan that will build on the great traditions of horse racing in this province and attract a new generation of fans to the sport.
“This plan will secure thousands of jobs throughout Ontario and set the foundation for jobs tomorrow.”
The $400 million in funding will cover a wide range of activities and programs, including branding and marketing, responsible gambling, the Horse Improvement Program, animal welfare and business planning.
Funding will be tied to accountability and transparency measures and will provide a positive return on the investment of public funds, Wynne explained, adding racetracks will need to provide business cases to receive funding.
When asked whether purses for races will be smaller, transition panel member John Snobelen responded that purses “will be just south of $130 million across the industry.”
He admitted that amount was lower than two years ago, but more than the predictions for this year. He also noted purses would increase over the next five years.
Wynne added this is one of the reasons the partnership with the OLG is so important – to develop other revenue streams.
Grand River Raceway general manager Ted Clarke said “this provides a new set of building blocks to move forward.
“How those will all intermix, I’m not sure. That is part of building a business plan to move forward. We’ve been given some tools with which to work and hopefully we can put them to good work.”
Centre Wellington Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj said, “For Centre Wellington, this is really good News.”
Ross-Zuj said the premier spoke both of the gaming and the horse racing components, “but for us there is the third component of all the industries which are connected and feed into the racing industry.
“Our agricultural industry has actually been boosted by this announcement.”
They know they can plan for the future, the mayor added.
“[Wynne] has given five years and there is going to be an investment to make this industry productive and sustainable. It now puts people back to work,” Ross-Zuj said.
As for the local raceway, Ross-Zuj said the industry now has a direction and strategies for which they will be able to plan. She noted Wynne identified six to eight tracks which are part of this new deal.
“From this day forward it is getting back into this working relationship we’ve had with the OLG and the racing industry – and now the community – to get back on track to plan for the future,” said Ross-Zuj.
“This is very good News.”
Grand River Raceway’s Paul Walker, president of the Grand River Agricultural Society, also thought the announcement was great.
“It’s building a solid foundation for horse racing and moving forward,” said Walker. He hopes the plans will succeed.
“They’ve put a lot of thought and work into this. The biggest part is the integration into the gaming industry. Without it, I don’t think any of it would work.”
