Racing at Sudbury Downs could be destroyed by the ongoing strike involving Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) workers, said Tamara Boisjoli, a member of the racing community.
“If this keeps up we will starve and the horse industry will collapse in Sudbury,” she said.
The woman was reacting to a release put out by the Ontario Racing Commission Monday night saying that it may temporarily suspend racing at Sudbury Downs by September.
“We still are having races every Wednesday and Saturday nights but they are down from 11 to 8 races and the number of horse in the field has dropped from nine to six per race,” said Boisjoli, whose husband Al Hohner is a horse driver and trainer.
Boisjoli said she blames OLG management for prolonging the strike.
“On the weekend we understood they (Canadian Auto Workers and OLG) were closing the gap in their negotiations but then an OLG manager started demanding concessions again,” she said.
Because OLG Slots revenue contributed to 65 per cent of the race purse or winnings, horse families like hers are suffering a lot. A typical purse of $2,500 is down to $900, she said.
This month, 600 families in the city were directly affected by the strike, said Boisjoli.
“Racing will be over at Sudbury Downs by September. We can travel to other race tracks such as Barrie, but the price of gas and accommodations is getting very expensive. It can cost $500 to ship a horse out of town. Other race tracks at Ottawa are deluged by horses from Quebec. It is really a tough situation for us."
