Consortium submits 2019 racetrack schedule
A few details remain to be sorted, but it appears horses will head to the post at Fort Erie Race Track for a minimum of 40 dates in 2019.
“We haven’t finalized all of the agreements we need to yet,” said Tom Valiquette, chief operating and financial officer of Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium, adding that the consortium has been working out a schedule for 2019 since the 2018 racing season ended in October.
“We’re also still trying to work out an agreement with Woodbine (Raceway),” he said. “That has been delayed until things through the whole industry are sorted.”
The 40-date schedule is the same as it was in 2018.
Controversy arose in October when the consortium’s board of directors chose an offer of additional funding over a return of slot machines to the 122-year-old border oval. That deal was said to have only included 150 slot machines to be installed at the track, as far cry from the heyday of 1,200 machines that were once housed there. That number had dwindled to just 400 when the Liberal government, under Kathleen Wynne, pulled the plug on slots at racetracks program in 2012.
Since that time, the province has been providing about $7.9 million annually to cover operating costs at Fort Erie. It is unknown just how much the extra funding is, but Valiquette said it bodes well for the track.
“Without a doubt, it will help us out tremendously,” he said.
The exact number of dates for racing in 2019 are “still somewhat up in the air,” Valiquette said, but to operate in 2019, the track needed to submit dates before Jan. 1, 2019.
He did say, however, that the 40 submitted would be the minimum.
The 2018 season was a positive one for the track, with on- and off-track wagering increasing by six per cent.
The 2019 schedule submitted to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario consists of dates scheduled on Sundays and Tuesdays starting May 28.