BY KEITH LACEY
Don't bet on the 2005 harness racing season
at Sudbury Downs opening as scheduled Wednesday night.
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Members of the Northern Horsemen's
Association want more races but Sudbury Downs manager
Ken Le Drew says there is no demand for a longer
season. |
A dispute between the 110-member Northern
Horsemen's Association (NHA) and management at the only harness
racing facility in Northern Ontario is at a standstill with no
apparent end in sight. Without an agreement in the next two
days, it's unlikely the racing season will begin on time.
The focal point of the dispute is the length
of the live racing season and number of race dates.
Downs' management forwarded a proposal to the
Ontario Racing Commission (ORC), which controls the harness
racing industry in this province, asking for 66 race days
between early May and late November. This is the same number of
race dates approved by the ORC for the 2003 and 2004
season at Sudbury Downs under the contract
which expired late last fall.
The NHA wants a season that runs close to
nine months a year with more than 70 dates. A total of 96
members from the NHA voted on a proposal last week and
unanimously rejected the offer, said NHA president Bob
Bodkin.
Sudbury Downs general manager Ken Le Drew
says the racetrack is virtually empty of patrons in December
and it makes no sense to continue live racing late in the
season.
"There is no difference in total purse money
for the season if we run 90 dates or 55 dates," he said. "That
message has not been adequately passed on to the
membership."
Why the NHA leadership can't understand why a
longer season won't mean more money for its people is beyond
him, said Le Drew.
"It's unreasonable for the NHA to expect just
because they want a longer season with more race dates for us
to roll over and give them what they want," said Le Drew. "It's
just not reasonable."
Bodkin counters Sudbury Downs owner Pat
MacIsaac promised NHA members back in 1999, around the time the
racetrack brought in slot machines, he would extend the season
over eight months.
The five-year deal signed in 1999 had an
eight-month schedule and more than 70 race dates, and his
members were very happy with that. The most recent two-year
deal, which expired last fall, clearly showed his members
couldn't survive with a shortened season and 66 race dates, he
said.
"We've made it very clear since the end of
the last contract last November that in order for our members
to survive, we need a nine-month season," said Bodkin.
The provincial government only approved slot
machines for racetracks to ensure the survival of the horse
racing industry in Ontario, he said.
Racetrack owners are making huge profits on
slot machines, but don't want to give back to horse industry
people, said Bodkin.
He insists Sudbury Downs has enjoyed more
than $20 million in profits since the racetrack slot machines
were introduced five years ago.
"They collect the slot revenues 12 months of
the year, but they only want us to race six months of the year
and our members don't agree with that," he said.
If Downs' management were to agree to an
extra four race nights in December, this dispute would likely
come to a quick end, but so far they have not shown any
willingness to budge, said Bodkin.
Le Drew said the issue over length of season
and number of race dates is "simply a question of supply and
demand...there's simply no demand for racing late in the
season."
The total amount wagered during one night in
December two years ago was less than $8,200 and the profit for
Sudbury Downs was less than $800.
"We would have to give away $55,000 in purse
money on those nights," said Le Drew.
"The costs for management to staff the
facility far exceeds what we'd have to pay out...there's simply
no justification for holding race nights when
there is no demand."
