ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Chief executive officer Jim Lawson said Woodbine Entertainment stood to lose more than CAN $50 million in revenue because the latest COVID-19 lockdown in city of Toronto has forced the early closure of the thoroughbred racing season at its racetrack.
This has put the livelihoods of several Caribbean horse people in jeopardy, including jockeys, the most well-known, ace Barbadian reinsman Patrick Husbands and Trinidad & Tobago veteran Emile Ramsammy, as well as trainers and grooms.
This past Sunday was the track’s final race day of the year because of a lockdown ordered by the Ontario government because of the spread of the COVID-19 virus across the city.
Four days after desperately trying to present its case for allowing the last 12 days of the Woodbine racing season to continue, racetrack officials and the Ontario Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association have yet to hear a response from the Ontario premier or health minister.
The Toronto and Peel lockdown announced this past Friday started on Monday at 12:01 a.m. and will last at least 28 days. It meant the shutdown of most businesses, mostly small, in an attempt to slow the growing number of COVID-19 positive tests.
Racetrack officials were stunned, however, to discover they were on the lockdown list on the website of the Ontario government, allowing for “training only”, because the same people who are training the horses take them to the track to race, and there have been no fans and no owners allowed this year on-site.
“We’re going to be losing over CAN $50 million wagering revenue (by being forced to close three weeks early),” said Lawson.
“And the horse people will be down CAN $5.2 million in purses, which they desperately need to get them through the winter. I don’t think (the province) appreciates the magnitude of that loss of jobs.”
Lawson added: “We deserve a chance (to keep racing) because we’re very credible. Who else could have 2,000 people going to the backstretch and not have a single transmission of COVID-19 for eight months?
“It’s a remarkable safety record. And, now, this week, we’re going to see the end — prematurely – of 2,500 jobs. This wasn’t well thought out. But I think if we can speak to the right people. I’m optimistic that they’ll understand that we got caught in a wide swath here that we shouldn’t have.”
Lawson said he wanted a chance to make a case for racing to continue, but no one was picking up the phone in the premier’s or health minister’s offices.
“We wrote the textbook (on COVID-19 prevention),” he said. “We published a 35-page handbook in the spring on how to do this.
“We are the gold standard for North America on how to do this. And we’re really the poster child on how you can do sports and conduct this kind of activity (safely).”
He said: “They didn’t do enough due diligence and homework to understand what we’re doing.
“The decision was made without enough understanding of the Woodbine situation and the thousands of people that worked there in a COVID-free environment.”
Reports indicate that horses are appearing on websites for sale and owners and trainers, the majority of which have less than 10 horses, were depending on the last 12 racing dates to pay bills.
“You know how many inexpensive horses we have on the grounds and we’re very worried they won’t be looked after,” he said.
“There’s a lot of cases of people selling them for inexpensive money just to get rid of them. And you know what that leads to.”
Woodbine employs several Caribbean horse people, including jockeys, the most well-known, ace Barbadian reinsman Patrick Husbands, trainers and grooms, whose livelihoods will all be affected.
(CMC)