Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Regulatory Revolution in Canada?

November 29, 2007

Horse racing in Canada may undergo a regulatory revolution that could make it easier for racetracks to compete against other forms of gambling.

The most dramatic recommendations are coming from the federal Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency, which has proposed to strip away many of the restrictions on the kind of wagers offered and even how people can bet. Racetrack officials are hailing the proposals as progressive and forward thinking.

"I think it's critical," said David Willmot, the president of Woodbine Entertainment, which operates the Woodbine and Mohawk racetracks.

"Horse racing is the oldest regulated form of gambling, simply because we were the first form of gambling that was institutionalized enough to require regulations.

"But as time has gone by and there are other forms of gaming, and other forms of competition, and with very quickly changing business circumstances, like the Internet, it gets to the point that [tracks] are handcuffed and encumbered by antiquated, anachronistic regulations. I think it's very timely."

The CPMA has been conducting a review since the spring of 2006 and now views the current regulations as "too prescriptive."

The CPMA instead wants to focus on its core role and its prime mandate of protecting the betting public. The organization's proposed regulations suggest that bettors don't necessarily have to go to racetracks or teletheatres to wager (the CPMA now requires teletheatres to offer food, washrooms, seating areas and television monitors to conduct wagering).

The proposals would also open up the possibility that Canadian tracks could bring in lottery-like bets, such as the V75 and V64 that are so popular in Sweden.

The V75 jackpot bet has become Europe's largest horse-racing betting pool. Punters must pick the winners of seven consecutive races at a track and the minimum wager is 10 cents, rather than $1 or $2. The V64 has a 20-cent minimum wager on six consecutive races at Sweden's famous Solvalla racetrack.

The pool for the V75 has climbed as high as $11-million (U.S.), while the V64 has gone to $25-million. Carryover pools have reached as much as $25-million. The record payoff for a V75 winning ticket is $6.5-million and $566,451 for the V64.

It's an innovative idea, particularly because gamblers have abandoned racetracks for lotteries, casinos and Internet wagering. Willmot says off-shore Internet sites can't compete with the jackpot bet because "they simply won't take the risk of booking those bets," he said. "A jackpot bet will make it more interesting for a lottery player to become interested in horse racing."

The proposals also would make it easier for bettors to sign up for telephone betting accounts.

At the provincial level, the Ontario Racing Commission has also been conducting a regulatory assessment into the Horse Improvement Program, which is a breeding and racing incentive to improve the quality of racing stock in the province, and to supplement purses for Ontario-bred horses.

There is also a panel chaired by former ORC chairman Stanley Sadinsky that is doing a strategic review of the racing industry and how it interacts with other forms of gaming operated by government, such as slots.

"There are lots of things up in the air, which doesn't make planning or budgeting very easy going forward," Willmot said. "But we can only hope that it all leads to positive development."

South Africa, universally known as the 'Rainbow Nation' and one of the world's wealthiest and most forward thinking republics, will become a member of the world trotting family soon.

Racing in the Rainbow Nation
Respected in thoroughbred circles for more than half a century, South Africa is aiming to conduct licensed trotting meetings as early as the second quarter of 2008.

Currently, informal race meetings are held at hundreds of rural 'bush tracks' at the trot, triple and pace with horses that are descendants of those left over by British cavalry troops at the end of the Anglo-Boer War.

These feral horses are owned mainly by an emerging middle class of black South Africans.

The Harness Racing Association of South Africa, a legally constituted and fully licensed body with 630 members, is the driving force in establishing the fledgling sport in the southernmost tip of the 'Dark Continent'.

Under the leadership of Dean Latimer, a practical horse person and who studied horse racing administration in New York, the Association has worked tirelessly to develop the complementaries and similaraties between the two racing codes for the betterment of both.

“We are entering the exciting home straight phase, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” Latimer said.

And, for the first time, harness racing is receiving strong support of the South African government. Initially, it is planned to hold trotting races as add-ons to thoroughbred meetings in Durban and later in Capetown. Races will be worth approx. $A4000 each.

Gold Circle, one of the country’s leading racing operators, is committed to host the KZN Premier’s Harness Challenge, the first planned series of professional trotting races in South Africa.

Racing will be conducted under the rules of the Australian Harness Racing Council, and, unlike Europe, both pacing and trotting will be accommodated.

A pool of standardbred horses from Australia and New Zealand and European warm blood trotters are currently being sourced and dedicated harness racing tracks – inside existing galloping courses – are being surveyed for construction.

Scottsville, an historic and charming thoroughbred track in Pietermaritzburg, will be the first to house a 1000 metre hard-surface trotting track on the infield.

Development clinics and workshops have been conducted throughout the country over the past 12 months and HRASA has been fortunate to receive the assistance of overseas drivers and trainers.

Ace Swedish reinsman Johnny B. Karlsson was enthusiastic after his last visit to South Africa in November 2006. “The equine passion is there…all they need is people with standardbred experience,” Karlsson said.

The Swedish Trotting Association has donated 37 racing bikes and jog carts to the new body.

“We are committed to the creation of a sustainable and responsible trotting industry, but we will need the support of the established trotting nations,” Latimer said.