With much gusto and a dash of optimism, Hastings Racecourse opened what might be its penultimate live thoroughbred horseracing season on April 16 under partly sunny skies.
Customs broker Glen Todd was the winning breeder and co-owner of Declan Downs with Russell Morrison in the thin, five-horse field to begin the scheduled 71-date season. Todd was joined in the winner’s circle by his partner in pony procurement and promoter of powerful politicians, Patrick Kinsella.
None of Todd, Kinsella and Morrison’s horses raced April 29. It was supposed to be the first Friday Night Live card of 2011. Just two hours before the Vancouver Canucks’ April 27 game seven, Hastings’ operator Great Canadian Gaming (GCC) announced the cancellation. A lack of entries was cited.
Some 1,000 T-shirts reading “I’d rather be at the track” will instead be distributed on May 6 when GCG hopes more owners and their horses would rather be at the track, too.
It was an odd cancellation so early in such an important season. Purses were increased and there is no apparent shortage of horses for 2011. But it could be a symptom of the uncertainty.
GCG reported to shareholders on March 17 that it could close the track and casino when the lease expires November 9, 2012. Hastings is the Richmond-based company’s flagship track, but racing revenue fell 19% to $23.5 million in 2010. GCG said it won’t sign a 15-year extension unless City Hall grants major concessions. GCG says it can’t afford any more capital upgrades.
The BC Lottery Corp. is spending $800,000 for marketing in a bid to buck the North American decline in live horse racing this season. Purses are up 19% (23% for stakes) and new flat-screen TVs and Wi-Fi are available at Hastings.
“Our take-out of 15% is the lowest in the industry,” said GCG vice-president Howard Blank. “More money returning to our players will hopefully help our pool.”
Hastings opened in 1889 and installed slot machines in 2007, but it has never delivered the forecast $6.5 million annual royalties to City Hall. The city has received only $3.52 million through the end of 2010.
Also on the day of the big game, the UBC Thunderbirds’ bid to join NCAA’s Division II was emphatically quashed by school president Stephen Toope.
Instead, Toope allied with university presidents at Victoria, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to lobby for the creation of an upper echelon tier for Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). Done right, it could lead to bigger broadcast and sponsorship revenue and bigger scholarships.
The CIS annual limit on student athlete grants is $5,500. In NCAA, it would have been $16,000.
Toope pointed out that Canadian athletes are opting to go south to play in a Division I program, not Division II. Athletes who support CIS would rather compete for a national title than a regional one.
It would have cost $1 million alone for the first few years to gain accreditation. UBC hockey and men’s volleyball would played in Division I because no other division exists.
“The money is relevant of course, but I don’t think it was really determinative,” Toope said. “We didn’t receive a lot of submissions frankly on the financial piece, there was a concern about the cost of accreditation. We also received some individual reports from individual sports that suggested if we were going to be competitive in the NCAA Division II we would have to make further investments.”
Joining NCAA would have been a chance to book more events and put more bums in seats at $47.9 million Thunderbird Arena, the only indoor venue built specifically for the 2010 Olympics and Paralympics. Two concerts in June and six Sesame Street shows over two days in August are all that’s scheduled this spring and summer.
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