Saying it would be the "death" of the harness horse racing at Leamington Raceway, the group that organizes the races has rejected a 19-year deal with Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and Woodbine Entertainment.
Tom Bain, a member of the Lakeshore Horse Racing Association, says the deal would have awarded the tracks in Leamington, Dresden and Hiawatha near Sarnia just $35,000 a year funding, while tracks near Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo get $65,000.
Bain says that is despite the fact Leamington's track pulls in more in betting than even the race track at the Western Fair in London.
Worse still, he says would be the lack of representation on the new Ontario Racing Management Board, which would be dominated by Woodbine.
"We can't get one representative on a board of 11 people," says Bain. "We need some type of voice in it, or there's no future. It'll be the closing of the local tracks, and in Essex County alone, that's 2,000 jobs."
Earlier this week, the Ontario Harness Horse Association predicted race tracks in Leamington and Dresden would go under financially within three years with the agreement.
"That would be the death knell to us to give total control to the Woodbine Entertainment Group," Bain agrees.
Bain says there are still two years left on the current agreement, and since the deadline to sign the longer deal has already passed, he believes a better deal could be in the offing.
