A late night deal was struck Friday between Kawartha Downs and the province's transition panel to save harness racing at the Fraserville track, Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal said Saturday.
“Mr. (Skip) Ambrose will continue the operation of racing in 2013,” Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal told thePeterborough Examiner Saturday. “As we move to 2014 and beyond the Peterborough County Federation of Agriculture will be putting together a non-profit entity to continue racing at Kawartha Downs.”
According to the Examiner, the deal does not include live race dates in April but will resume in early May with a total of 20 to 25 dates.
“This is hugely significant,” said Leal. “We want to assure everyone racing will continue at Kawartha Downs.”
While it was reported yesterday that a ceremony would celebrate the 40 years of racing at the Peterborough-area oval after Race 2, instead Leal will join a group in the winner's circle including track owner Ambrose at 6:00 p.m. to officially announce the deal.
“Kawartha Downs will be receiving the transition funding and at the same time, as Premier (Kathleen) Wynne announced about a week ago, we are re-integrating horse racing as part of the overall gaming activity in the province of Ontario with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation," said Leal, noting that the Liberal government erred in separating horse racing from the provincial gaming strategy. "Then we are going to seek a dedicated revenue stream from gaming in Ontario for the future support of horse racing in the province of Ontario to keep it alive.”