Kawartha Downs track placed into receivership

New general manager appointed after courtappointed receivership; long-time owner Skip Ambrose is out

Long-time owner Skip Ambrose is out and there’s a new general manager is at Kawartha Downs.

The track went into courtordered receivership in May after Ambrose’s business empire collapsed beneath a debt of more than $97 million.

The racetrack announced Friday that Orazio Valente has stepped in to manage the track this season.

Ambrose owned and operated 15 other companies, in addition to Kawartha Downs, before several of those companies went into receivership in late 2015.

The racetrack wasn’t one of those companies, initially – it was held by Ambrose’s private lender, after he failed to pay back his loan. The Downs was put into receivership May 18.

Valente is managing all the companies formerly owned by Ambrose that are now in receivership.

He said Kawartha Downs will host 18 race cards this season, running until Sept. 30 (except Sept. 16 when there is NASCAR racing).

Race fans can expect the same experience they’ve always enjoyed, he said: “It’s business as usual.”

On June 17, Valente will be at the races making hot dogs and talking to visitors to get their feedback. The Downs is also host to the Shorelines slots facility, which will move into the city and become a full casino next year.

Kawartha Downs opened in 1972 and was purchased by Ambrose in the 1990s. He added the Kawartha Speedway racetrack in 1999, and the slots, originally operated by OLG, opened a few years later.

The Downs has faced struggles in recent years, and in 2013 came close to ending harness racing for good until a last-minute reprieve led to a shortened racing season.

But it turns out that Ambrose’s companies were struggling with a huge debt, at that time – he’d been racking up loans since 2009, mostly for mortgages on his 20 commercial and industrial properties.

Court documents state that by May 12, 2017, Ambrose owed $97.3 million to his Toronto mortgage lender, Romspen Investment Corp. – loans that were supposed to be paid off by 2015.

The same court documents state that he was accruing interest of $22,795 daily, on the amount owing.

Ambrose’s 16 companies were diverse: one did snow-clearing for the General Motors plant in Oshawa, for example, and another processed organic waste on contract for the city of Toronto.

His 20 properties are mostly in the Peterborough area and in the GTA. They include the racetrack and also industrial buildings, gravels pits and wrecking yards.

Kawartha Downs, which sits on 114 acres in Fraserville, was by far Ambrose’s most valuable property: court documents state its worth at $20 million (double the value of his next most-costly property).

The documents also state the racetrack will be for sale, at some point.

Richard Weldon, the managing partner of Romspen Investment Corp (the lender), explained in an affidavit why he thought the racetrack should be put into receivership.

He wrote that Ambrose told him the provincial government had withheld funding for Kawartha Downs as Ambrose’s companies were failing.

That was just 10 days before the start of the race season, on May 27; Weldon wrote that the provincial funding would only be restored if the racetrack were put into courtordered receivership.

The affidavit was sworn on May 16, and the racetrack was put into receivership on May 18 (the same day Valente was appointed manager).

Weldon also wrote that the receiver, Rosen Goldberg Inc., should take control and possession of the racetrack property now – but only until it can be put up for sale “at the appropriate time.”