Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Horsemen, Patrons say Windsor is Neglected

April 22, 2008

Dozens of area horsemen and some gamblers got few answers Tuesday to their complaints about live racing conditions and amenities for patrons at Windsor Raceway.

"The basic complaint is they're driving it into the dumper," Essex horseman Gord McDonnell said at a meeting attended by the chairman of the Ontario Racing Commission to hear the complaints. But despite raising allegations of poor conditions in horse barns, limited food service for patrons and even unsanitary bathrooms, no promises were made by ORC chairman Rod Seiling, other than to continue to monitor conditions and gather information.

"If they can find common ground, that's the first step," Seiling said of the raceway and horsemen, after a nearly three-hour meeting called by the commission.

The session was organized after the Ontario Harness Horse Association and the raceway agreed last week to continue the number of remaining race days in the season, with a reduced purse for horsemen. The raceway had proposed eliminating eight days from the rest of the season because of low purses caused primarily by reduced revenue from Ontario Lottery Corporation slot machines. The horsemen wanted to keep up the number of races. This year there are 111 race days, with the season ending in late May.

"The partners have to start working together," Seiling told the group. "That can be a bridge to a lot of things."

But horsemen said more needs to be done.

"Windsor Raceway does very little to promote live harness racing," said Louis Moison, director of District 11 of the OHHA, representing Windsor-Essex horsemen. He said raceway owner ship "fails to realize that he purchased a racetrack, not a slot parlour."

Chris Kruba, legal counsel for the raceway, insisted the emphasis is on racing, and said the facility is maintained. He denied allegations of unsanitary bathrooms, and said the track would look into complaints about food service for patrons. Food and beverage service has been outsourced.

"Our long-term commitment is to long-term racing in this community," Kruba said. "A lot of the issues we're seeing are not related to the facility."

The raceway maintains that reduced slot revenues -- influenced by the high Canadian dollar, stiff competition from Windsor and Detroit casinos and perceived border slowdowns -- is behind the lower purses. In a filing to the ORC last month, the raceway said that contribution to purses from its slot machines has declined 34 per cent since 2005, and has resulted in the raceway paying the second-lowest purses in Ontario.

But the meeting heard many complaints about overall conditions at the track, which horsemen said is hurting business.

"They've cut, cut cut," Moison said after the meeting.

McDonnell said the horsemen want the raceway to work with them. He claimed the raceway is taking money from the operation and letting poor conditions such as leaky barn roofs continue. Seiling told the group the ORC hears their complaints.

"We recognize and sympathize. We hear your complaints about issues."

He said harness racing across Ontario is having problems.

"You're not isolated. Some of the problems you're experiencing is the same as tourism is experiencing."