KawarthaDownsmotionexpectedtobedebatednextmonth
Peterborough County councillors didn’t discuss whether to advocate for a 40-race season for Kawartha Downs at their meeting on Wednesday, but they may do so at their next meeting in December.
Scott McFadden, mayor of Ca van Monaghan Township, notified councillors on Wednesday that he wants them to talk about the Downs at the next county council meeting on Dec. 6.
Kawartha Downs is expected to have only 18 race nights in 2018 – even though the racetrack made a special request to increase that to 40 races.
That request was rejected Oct .24 by the Ontario Racing Association, which determine show many races each track gets.
The forthcoming race season is expected to be crucial, for the Downs.
The slot machines that are currently at the track are going to close for good, sometime in late 2018, and move over to the new Shorelines Casino Peterborough (which is now under construction on Crawford Dr.)
Revenues at the Downs are expected to plunge by 85 per cent, due to the loss of the slot machines. The increased number of race nights might’ve made the business viable.
McFadden wants councillors to consider sending a letter to the Ontario Racing Association to push for 40 race nights at the Downs in 2018.
That letter would be copied to Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs Minister and Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal and other politicians at Queen’s Park.
Furthermore, county council may also ask all municipalities in the county to push the Ontario Racing Association to reconsider.
A notice of motion to this effect was introduced at a county council meeting on Wednesday, but Warden Joe Taylor said the matter wouldn’t be discussed on the spot.
The matter will be on the agenda on Dec .6, he said, and it maybe discussed at that meeting.
Meanwhile, Leal has said he has been working on a solution to help all five Ontario horse racing tracks that will eventually lose rental revenue from slots operations.
He’s talked about possible solutions such as the introduction of off-track betting or charging less tax to racetracks that have lost their slot machines.