Breeding & Racing Magazine

Ontario Horse Industry Rallies To Fight Cuts

In Canada, the Ontario horse racing industry "is set to hold a rally tomorrow (February 22) to fight off potential cuts in slot machine revenue it receives from the provincial government" reported bloodhorse.com. The Ontario horse racing industry "has been highlighted as an area to investigate by Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan as the province looks to take action to trim spending". Several recommendations on the horse racing industry "were issued to the provincial government last week by an independent commission led by economist Don Drummond". The key recommendation outlined in the Drummond report "calls for the provincial government to review & rationalise the current provincial financial support provided to the horse racing industry." The province "would consider taking a significant portion of the approximately C$345 million per year it has paid the industry since 1998 through the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corp slots-at-racetracks program". The province gets 75% of slots revenue; tracks & horsemen split 20% of the revenue 50-50.