Brighter days are coming for the Lakeshore Horse Racing Association, as it is going to receive an increase in the horse racing purses for the upcoming live season. As a result of a new arrangement covering the upcoming two years of operation, some CA$9,000 is going to be poured into the purses, eventually swelling the overall figure to CA$44,000 per racing day at Leamington Raceway.
Live racing is exciting for many Canadians, as they often associate it with fond childhood memories. This summer is going to bring 13 live days of horse racing on site of the Leamington Raceway. Locals and everyone interested in witnessing the magic of horse racing in person will have the opportunity to attend as many as 13 live events through the course of this year’s live season. Together with the excitement of this, Ontario Racing is going to boost the location even further.
Horse Field Sees a Boost
Following a recently inked arrangement, it bagged some CA$2.4 million as annual support coming from the Ministry of Finance. A portion of this amount is going to be poured into the racing purses of Ontario’s racecourses in need of financial support. This is going to guarantee a good start of the 2019 racing season and everything it brings to the locals.
It could be recalled that at the beginning of this year, local horsepeople were concerned about the future of Leamington Raceway, as financing was insufficient. The month of March was dedicated to negotiations, as members of the Lakeshore Horse Racing Association did not want to join the new arrangement with Ontario Racing, now overseeing the field.
March 31 was highlighted as the deadline for joining this agreement, eventually accepted by the LHRA. Mark Williams, Director for the association, pointed out that this was not the first choice and a green light was given just so people could continue their horse racing career. More than 2,000 locals are directly affected by operation of the horse racecourse.
Ontario Racing Stirs the Pot in the Field
Projections are that this partnership is going to give good results at the end of the day, as there are many things in need of improvement on site of the Leamington Raceway. LHRA member Tom Bain recently pointed out that there are some improvements that need to be done, as the grandstand is in need of repainting and some repairs.
In addition to that, the facility also needs some minor twitches that are subject to future negotiations between the management and Ontario Racing. Racetracks to the likes of Hiawatha Horse Park in Sarnia and Kawartha Downs in Fraserville are also among the locations that reluctantly agreed on signing the agreement. In the weeks leading up to the beginning of April said locations claimed that the new agreement deprives horsepeople of some of their mandatory protections.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union supported their decision back then, claiming that this is an unfair use of the authority and the Ontario government has given Ontario Racing bigger power than it can manage. The horse racetracks faced 19-year contracts, but few of them have inked their agreement in its full size. For the time being, horse people are concerned about the future once the next two years pass.
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