Dresden Raceway On The Chopping Block

Dresden Raceway could be one of 7 Ontario horse racing tracks to close, as the Ontario Liberal government announced plans to cut the number of standardbred racetracks from 12 to 5.

In Dresden, this could result in the loss of roughly 1,000 direct jobs.

“The horse-racing industry can’t afford any more Liberal ‘help’,” said Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Monte McNaughton in a release on his website regarding horse racing in Ontario. “This industry is in complete and total chaos thanks to Liberal policies. Kathleen Wynne is risking thousands of jobs to finish-off what Dalton McGuinty started.”

The horse racing transition panel met at Western Fair Raceway, Woodbine, and Rideau Carleton this past week to discuss their plan for a sustainable Ontario horse racing industry, a plan McNaughton’s release called a ‘path to failure.’ He also pointed to the cancellation of the Slots at Racetracks program as a major step in the destruction of horse racing in Ontario.

“Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne have pulled the rug out from under this important industry,” continued McNaughton. “And by helping them pass the budgets that killed SARP, the NDP has done nothing for Ontario’s horse racing industry and the 60,000 jobs across the province.”

“People employed by the horseracing industry deserve better. Ontario deserves better. We’ve got a big problem, and the Liberal-NDP coalition is only making it worse. To change Ontario’s direction we need to change the team that leads this province.”

With more than half of Ontario’s horse racing tracks planned to close, Dresden Raceway’s future will undoubtedly be discussed in the coming weeks.