Wynne announces plan to keep 4 more racetracks alive
Posted March 8, 2013 10:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Premier Kathleen Wynne announced Friday that Ontario’s beleaguered horse racing industry would be integrated into a provincial gambling strategy with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) to find new streams of cash, and keep at least four more tracks up and running.
On Friday Wynne said transition funding agreements had been reached with Western Fair, Clinton, Hanover and Grand River racetracks
The government is negotiating with eight other tracks.
In January the province announced transition funding to ensure races continue at Woodbine and Mohawk over the next two years.
Sue Leslie of the Ontario Horse Racing and Breeding Association said the integration would have to begin in a timely fashion for the industry to survive.
The sector was left reeling when the OLG announced last March a series of new initiatives meant to modernize the agency and boost profits — including stopping annual payments of $345 million to the horse racing industry by halting the Slots at Racetracks program on March 31.
With files from The Canadian Press
