Baseball, harness racing back in action.
Northside Downs to begin season this weekend with no fans in attendance
NORTH SYDNEY — After being delayed for close to a month because of pandemic restrictions, horses will return to Northside Downs this weekend for live harness racing action.
The provincial government has permitted harness racing to resume across the province and the North Sydney venue will hold its opening card on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Willie Seymour, president of the Cape Breton Horse Owners Association, believes the start of the season is great for the industry in Nova Scotia.
“When you sit back and think about it, the majority of these horses haven’t raced since last November,” said Seymour. “It’s been a whole stretch of six or seven months where there’s no money coming in, but the horses need to eat and be taken care of.
“It’s nice to get back and get a chance to get some money to help with the bills on them, but as far as racing is concerned, it’s nice to see the friends you don’t see very often except for on Saturdays at the racetrack. It’s positive news for everyone.”
At the time, with rising COVID-19 cases, community spread in both the Halifax and Sydney areas, and a provincewide lockdown, Northside Downs was forced to cancel all cards in May.
Last weekend, horses were allowed to begin qualifying in anticipation of the start of the season. Qualifiers were held Saturday at Northside Downs.
Seymour admits he didn’t expect to be back racing until early July, given the fact harness racing was listed under sports and recreation in the province’s reopening phase and not outdoor business.
“Last year, we were in what they called the business sector, but this year we got changed to a different sector and we don’t know why,” said Seymour, who is also part of the Nova Scotia Harness Racing committee.
“Being in a different category meant the restrictions were tighter. It is what it is and COVID-19 is COVID-19 and we just have to adapt as we go forward.”
Seymour couldn’t confirm the number of race dates for Northside Downs this year, however he noted if the Cape Breton Exhibition is cancelled this year they may look at adding two weekends of racing at the start of August.
“We were able to gain a couple of dates in the first two weeks of August last year because the exhibition was cancelled,” said Seymour. “We can’t add on dates at the end of the season because the facility is used for storage and we can only race until Nov. 14.”
Although racing will resume Saturday, spectators will not be permitted to attend under the current provincial restrictions. Seymour is hopeful fans will be able to return to the stands sooner rather than later.
“We all understand with COVID-19 that we have certain rules to obey and unfortunately this is one of them,” said Seymour. “We raced the first couple of weeks without fans last year and then we were able to welcome them back.
“We put a proposal to the government — Northside Downs, Truro Raceway and Inverness Raceway — that will allow us to have three sections with up to 150 fans. But, we will do whatever they want in order for us to keep racing.”
Harness racing will also resume at Inverness Raceway this weekend. Horses will take to the track for qualifiers on Sunday at 11 a.m. followed by the opening card at 1 p.m.