In a matter of just a few days, horseracing in Ontario seems to have plunged itself into an ice age. Fort Erie Racetrack appears to be dead; at least the priest is chanting the last rights and the patient’s hand is lifeless.

 

And on Christmas Eve, a couple of e-mails within less than three hours of each other spelt out a hostile relationship between the Ontario Harness Horse Association (OHHA) and Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG).

 

The two parties have a contract that expires at the end of 2008. This deal expresses the condition under which harness racing is conducted at Woodbine.  WEG offers some of the largest purses anywhere for standardbred racing – over $300,000 was raced for on Boxing Day – but there is now a deepening rift that concerns more than just cash.

 

In a press release issued just after noon on Christmas Eve, OHHA revealed that,

 

“The OHHA members then voted to not enter horses to race at Woodbine, starting with the January 1, 2009 card, and continuing until a contract acceptable to them is signed by OHHA.”

 

There seems to be three difficult points between the two parties. The harness people don’t like the idea that thoroughbred horsemen decide the amount of revenue from winter thoroughbred simulcasts. OHHA is also unhappy with WEG’s apparent demand that the harness side “give up its right to represent or intervene with the Ontario Racing Commission when a racing participant…has been  banned from racing …by WEG management.”

 

And the third bone of contention is racing dates. Woodbine wants to cut out Sunday afternoon racing. OHHA does not.

 

A couple hours after the OHHA release, Woodbine generated their own response. Addressing the issue of revenue from the simulcasts, WEG stated,

 

“WEG is not proposing any change to the sharing of wagering revenue from the previous contract. In 2009, purses are expected to grow by $4 million and will exceed $80 million.”

 

The most expressive paragraph in the WEG release concerns their right, as a private property, to ban any individual and, according to WEG, this is all about the perception that horseracing is honest.

 

“Our customers are telling us that they have some serious concerns regarding the integrity of our harness racing, and this has contributed to a decrease in wagering of approximately 20% over the last five years,” argues WEG.

 

Howver However, WEG does seem to indicate that any trespass warrant or banning of a horse person is not inflexible and that OHHA would still have options at its disposal.

 

“In the event WEG exercises its private property rights to exclude an individual, generally as a result of a serious performance enhancing drug violation, and OHHA wishes to reverse the exclusion, WEG is proposing a binding dispute resolution mechanism within the contract,” says the release. “The agreement would not preclude an individual from seeking relief from the ORC or the courts.”

 

As for the racing dates, WEG feels that Sundays seem to attract the lowest amount of betting.

 

“…the number of race dates will be based on the ability to fill programs with quality racing that will generate wagering pools of at least $ million,” its release says, suggesting that Sundays don’t thrill as much as other days.

 

In the two letters, I seemed to have found at least one incompatible set of circumstances (aside from the OHHA people and WEG people in the same room).

 

The OHHA letter states,

 

“Without the agreement of horsemen who provide live racing at the tracks the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency can not issue a betting permit allowing betting on horse races.”

 

But Woodbine says,

 

“WEG intends to offer live racing despite the call by OHHA to boycott the entry box. WEG will conduct racing for every scheduled card even if field size is small.”

 

And this is where the whole thing could really get unpleasant. Are there harness drivers and trainers out there who are not members of OHHA? Would they be lured to Woodbine for purses they don’t normally race for? Would dissenting members of OHHA – those opposed to the boycott – show up to race?  How many horsemen does Woodbine  need to provide sufficient agreement that satisfies the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency?

 

Would racing at Woodbine become like the time the NFL played games with minor leaguers and walk-ons after the union went on strike? Would there be a response from committed OHHA members?

 

Suddenly a cold January has become a cold, dark, angry January.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 26th, 2008 at 4:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.