By Marc Venema
The local horse racing industry took a big blow this past week when it was announced the proposed Belleville track would not go ahead as planned.
It wasn’t the news local harness racer, Kevin Benn was hoping for.
“It’s disappointing.” Benn said.
Benn, a native of Napanee, has been harness racing since he was in high school 30 years ago. Along with his brother, he runs a horse stable in Napanee and travels to tracks throughout the province, including Toronto, Kawartha, and Ottawa.
Benn said harness racing in the province is heading in the wrong direction.
“It looks like harness racing is going to go by the wayside I guess,” Benn said. “It’s very disheartening.”
For a few years, the future of horse racing in the province and especially Belleville looked promising. Baymount Incorporated and the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation (OLG) partnered in 2006 with plans to build a new racetrack/slots facility in Belleville. Property along Bell Boulevard was purchased to build the track on.
But after the Drummond report recommended the provincial government do away with slots-at-racetracks programs this spring, the hope started to fade for local racers. It was announced this past week that the site agreement between Baymount and the OLG had been terminated, meaning no track for Belleville.
Benn said as a horse racer, it’s a tough pill to swallow, but the business has taught him how to deal with it.
“You get over it fast,” Benn said. “You always dream your horse is going to be the next world champion and nine times out of ten, it falters and it’s just another horse, so I’ve accepted heartbreak.”
Graham Simmonds, president and chief CEO at Baymount Incorporated, said the termination is not only tough for his company, but also for the horse racing industry.
“It’s fairly devastating to the horse racing industry from a financial standpoint,” Simmonds said. “The industry has essentially been told by the government that it needs to run its own operations and business.”
Simmonds said the provinces decision to steer away from racetrack slot facilities means danger for other horse racing hotspots.
“Some of the tracks that exist today will probably not exist in the future.” Simmonds said.
But, Simmonds doesn’t believe horse racing is dead.
“At the end of the day, there will be survivors,” Simmonds said. “The horse racing industry will survive, it’ll just be smaller than it was, is my guess.”
Baymount still owns the property on Bell Boulevard where the proposed racetrack and slot facility was to be built. Simmonds said it’s still not clear what will happen with the property.
“The site is zoned for an allowance of slot machines.”
Simmonds said it’s not Baymount’s mandate at this point to do that but said it’s always a possibility.
He said the company needs to re-evaluate its plan.
“We have to lick our wounds, pick ourselves up off the ice and figure out where we are going.” Simmonds said. “We have to walk before we run.”