Fort Erie plans to open June 2 without fans in the stands
Only one trainer and one groom permitted per horse when thoroughbred racing returns for 123rd season
More than 250 thoroughbreds stabled along the backstretch at Fort Erie Race Track have started heading into the home stretch of their pre-season training.
Until COVID-19 restrictions were eased by the Ontario government, tracks in the province were only allowed to provide essential care and exercise. They could run but trainers couldn’t use a stopwatch to time how fast they were getting around the track.
“With the province giving the approval for horse racing to resume, horses are now able to start training and prepare for racing,” said Antonietta Culic, manager of marketing and media relations. “We are now allowing timed workouts and offering starting-gate training, as well.”
“Pending regulatory approvals,” Fort Erie is set to open its 123rd season of live racing Tuesday, June 2, only one week later than its original planned opener, May 26.
Racing will return without spectators for the time being.
“We are confident that, with the new protocols that we have put in place, and by racing without fans, we can safely resume racing in Fort Erie,” said Tom Valiquette, chief operating officer and financial officer of Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium.
With up to 80 per cent of revenue coming from wagering, horse racing is one of the few sports able to go forward without fans over the short term.
“Most of our revenues come from people who are not at the track in the first place. If you look at our live racing dates, if we did a million dollars in wagering there might be $50,000 wagered on track and $950,000 wagered off track,” Valiquette said in an interview when the possibility of going ahead without fans was first under consideration.
He also said at the time, while tracks such as Fort Erie and Woodbine in Toronto can “operate fairly effectively without fans,” doing so is less than ideal.
“It’s tough to grow your business.
It’s tough for the owners not to be able to come and watch their horses but, certainly, on a short-term basis we can do it,” Valiquette said.
Without fans, job losses would be substantial at Fort Erie. More than two-thirds of the 180 people who work at the track throughout the season would not be needed.
“What you’re losing is all your mutual tellers, you’re losing all your food and beverage operations, you’re losing some security, you’re losing all the work to basically maintain the grandstand,” Valiquette said.
“You’re going with your core operation.”
The racing calendar has been revised to feature Monday and Tuesday programs, both starting at 1:20 p.m., “in order to reduce our competition in the simulcast market and maximize our revenue from simulcast wagering,” Valiquette said in a statement released by the track Tuesday.
At the track, it will be anything but training as usual now that restrictions have been eased. The backstretch remains closed to all but the people who are essential to the care and training of the horses.
“Owners are still not allowed to attend and watch their horses as we try to limit the number of people who are entering our property,” Culic said.
Horsepeople are required to stay at their barns during training.
“Only trainers are allowed to go trackside to watch the horses work,” she said.
Limitations will extend into the season. Live racing will be off-limits to media and access on race days will be restricted to one trainer and one groom per horse.
“And they are only permitted trackside during their designated race,” Culic said. “We need to limit the number of people who are entering our facility in order to keep everyone as safe as possible.”
Other race-day practices modified to keep horsepeople and staff safe include limiting those allowed in the paddock and walking ring. Masks will be required, both in the backstretch and on race days.
“We will be closing the grandstand and we have installed more handwashing and sanitation stations, among other changes,” Culic said.
Fort Erie currently has 265 horses stabled on its backstretch, a 15 per cent increase from last year.
The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed all three legs of Canadian thoroughbred racing’s triple crown. The 1 1⁄2-mile Queen’s Plate, North America’s longest continuously run stakes race, is expected to be run on Tapeta on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto.
Fort Erie’s signature race, the Prince of Wales Stakes, which is run 1 3 ⁄ miles on dirt, tentatively
16 goes Tuesday, Sept. 29, with the Breeders’ Stakes, a 1 1 ⁄-mile turf
2 face, pencilled in for Saturday, Oct. 24, also at Woodbine.
Tapeta is an artificial racing surface made up of sand, fibre, rubber and wax.
“Owners are still not allowed to attend and watch their horses as we try to limit the number of people who are entering our property.” ANTONIETTA CULIC FORT ERIE RACE TRACK MARKETING AND MEDIA RELATIONS MANAGER