On Thursday, May 14, the Ontario government announced the retailers, seasonal businesses and health and community service providers that will be permitted to open or expand their services on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. 'Horse racing' was one of the entities included in the announcement.
The permission from the province has come provided that the general trend on health indicators continues to improve as part of the first stage of the government's reopening framework, according to a release. The workplaces opening as part of this stage are 'well-positioned to put workplace safety measures in place and get more people back to work, while not overburdening public transit and other services.'
"During the last several weeks, the people of Ontario have been called on to make incredible sacrifices to help us stop the spread of COVID-19, including staying home from work, closing down businesses and going without a regular paycheque," Ontario Premier Doug Ford was quoted as saying. Premier Ford went on to state that the province is, "taking a cautious, balanced approach to our economic reopening, to protect the health and safety of everyone."
As part of its release, the government has stated Ontario's first stage of reopening will begin on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. and will include:
• Seasonal businesses and recreational activities for individual or single competitors, including training and sport competitions conducted by a recognized national or provincial sport organization. This includes indoor and outdoor non-team sport competitions that can be played while maintaining physical distancing and without spectators, such as tennis, track and field and horse racing.
"We are taking a cautious, practical and reasonable approach to restarting the economy, while maintaining the health and safety of the people of Ontario as our top priority," Minister of Finance Rod Phillips was quoted as saying. "This will allow Ontario to emerge from this outbreak with a clear path to economic recovery that keeps people safe and healthy."
To read the release in its entirety, click here.
After the government's Thursday announcement, Woodbine Entertainment followed suit with its own comment on the matter, and it was, again, one of optimism.
The contents of the Woodbine press release appear below.
The return of live horse racing in the Province of Ontario just got one step closer.
Earlier today, the Ontario government announced a framework to gradually reopen the province in stages. Stage 1, which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, May 19, allows for horse racing without spectators and physical distancing measures in place.
“This is great news for the sport of horse racing and the tens of thousands of people it employs throughout the province,” said Jim Lawson, CEO, Woodbine Entertainment. “With this news, our plans to resume Standardbred racing at Mohawk Park on June 5 and Thoroughbred racing on June 6 at Woodbine remain on track. We appreciate the government’s recognition that we can operate spectator-free horse racing safely by following strict physical distancing protocols.
“I would also like to thank the entire horse racing community for their patience, understanding and commitment in following health guidelines during this time. In doing so, it has put the entire industry in the position to resume live horse racing in the coming weeks.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, harness racing at Mohawk Park was suspended on March 19, while the opening of Woodbine’s Thoroughbred season, originally scheduled for April 18, was postponed.