Deal puts Ontario's standardbred breeders on the track to stability

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

by MIKE BEAUDIN

Ontario’s standardbred breeders now have the financial stability they need to continue operating after reaching a $12-million enhancement rewards deal with the Ontario Racing Commission, says the head of the province’s breeders.

The agreement announced Monday provides enhanced rewards for breeders over the next four years, said Walter Parkinson, president of the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association (SBOA).

“I think this provides breeders the incentive to breed their mares this year through to 2018,” said Parkinson in a telephone interview from his home in Lucan, Middlesex County. “It’s a program we’re very happy with. It’s what we wanted to achieve.”

Did it make everybody comfortable? “Probably not,” said Parkinson. “But I think people realize the Ontario Stakes program is still a very strong program in comparison to other jurisdictions. There’s still a lot of value in breeding in Ontario.”

Standardbred racing in Ontario has been struggling since 2013 when the government cancelled its Slots at Racetracks program which had allocated 20 per cent of the revenue from slots at the province’s 17 racetracks to the industry. In March 2012, the province announced it would cancel the program effective March 2013.

Breeders said the abrupt cancellation caused irreparable harm because it sharply reduced the value of horses the breeders had invested in prior to the announcement the program would end.

In April 2014, 38 breeders filed a $65-million lawsuit against the Ontario Gaming and Lottery Commission, alleging they lost income from yearling sales, horse boarding and stud fees. The breeders claimed that cancelling the slots program was “arbitrary, capricious, irrational and demonstrates bad faith” by the gaming commission and Ontario. 

In a statement of defence, dated May 15, 2014, the gaming commission said the breeders do not have any entitlement to racetrack revenue. Any damages claimed by the plaintiffs were “excessive, speculative and remote,” said the statement of defence, which asked that the action be dismissed.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

Parkinson said Tuesday that the $12-million program should satisfy most breeders but he said he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit because individual breeders and not the association had filed it. However, he told Better Farming in April 2014 the litigation would proceed unless a settlement could be reached.

Abigail Dancey, a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs, said in an email Tuesday it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the lawsuit because it was still before the courts.

Parkinson said under the new program the emphasis remains on breeding competitive horses. Breeders are compensated according to how well their horses compete.

‘It could mean the difference between a couple of thousand dollars and potentially tens of thousands of dollars depending on the quality of the horses you produce and how well they do in the program that year,” he said. “The bulk of the money comes down to how well the horses you bred potentially do as two and three-year-olds.”

Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Jeff Leal, in a statement released on SBOA’s website, said the new agreement will enhance the current breeders’ rewards program.

“Horse racing is an important part of the fabric of communities across Ontario and this new agreement will continue to build confidence and support the growth and development of the industry going forward,” said Leal.

Parkinson said breeders who may have thought about leaving the industry would likely be encouraged to continue as a result of the agreement. “It’s still going to be a hard sell to encourage brand new people to come into the industry. But for those who are still in the industry, this is seen as a huge bonus.”

In June 2014, the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society signed an agreement with the Ontario Racing Commission for a five-year, $2-million-per-year enhancement of the current breeders awards program, as well as an additional $2 million immediate payment to further benefit those within the province who have participated in the breeding of 2013 Registered Ontario-bred Thoroughbreds. BF