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Horse breeders in B.C. are worrying the sport of horse racing may be coming to an end in the province, after the government told the industry it would stop sharing revenue from slot machines at two racetrack-adjacent casinos next year.
In a letter dated Nov. 25, Solicitor General Nina Krieger told horse racing industry representatives that a share of the slots revenue from Vancouver’s Hastings Casino and Surrey’s Elements Casino would no longer be provided.
Both casinos are next to race courses — the former at Hastings Racecourse and the latter at the recently shuttered Fraser Downs course in Surrey, which was closed by the city earlier this year for redevelopment.
The province says the move to cut funding comes after a review of the industry showed it wasn’t sustainable without “significant additional government spending,” which the province couldn’t guarantee while facing a record deficit.
Gary Johnson, the chair of Thoroughbred Racing B.C., said industry representatives were rendered speechless when Krieger broke the news to them in a virtual meeting last week.
“I sat there for a couple seconds, realized that nobody else was going to speak,” he said.
“And so I said, ‘Minister, thank you for being so blunt,'” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything more that we can say. We need to talk to our [representatives] about this, because it’s absolutely gut-wrenching.”
Johnson estimated the move will cost the industry around $8 million. He provided the province’s letter to the industry to CBC News, which says the revenue stream will stop as of Jan. 31, 2026.
He said Thoroughbred Racing B.C. — whose breeders have been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic and ballooning expenses — was already running a deficit.
The industry body is in discussions with Great Canadian Entertainment, which currently owns the Hastings Racecourse, to reduce the number of race days there.
“And 2025, we actually had to cut seven days because … the income from the slots was dropping. And both of those, that’s the slot machines from Fraser Downs and Hastings,” Johnson said.
Tory MLA critical
Krieger told reporters on Monday that the decision was a very difficult one for the government to make, especially given the “incredible history” of horse racing in B.C.
She said the sustainability of the industry was in question for many years, with decreasing revenues and attendance.
“I recognize the impact that this will have on on families, on breeders, on workers,” she said.
“There are certainly, you know, supports available to transition to … housing or lines of work, whatever is needed at this time.”
Ian Paton, himself a farmer and the Conservative MLA for Delta South, said the “equine industry is dying in B.C. because they keep shutting down our race tracks.”
“It’s just another part of our agricultural industry that’s going to go down the tubes if we keep losing horse racing,” he said, urging the government to keep the status quo.
Worry about sustainability
The closure of the Fraser Downs racetrack in Surrey was a body blow to the standardbred horse breeding community in B.C., leaving Hastings Racecourse as the only operational track in the province.
Johnson said industry representatives were hard at work trying to re-establish themselves in the B.C. Interior, but now face an uncertain future.
He said B.C.’s horse racing industry — jockeys, barn workers and associated jobs, like those who provide hay and feed — could see family farms being lost and horses being shipped elsewhere.
He said the province should provide the industry with an off ramp, if they can’t figure out an alternative or transition plans.
Horse racing at one of the two remaining racing tracks in B.C. has come to an end after the City of Surrey revealed its plans to redevelop the land for housing and other public amenities. As Sohrab Sandhu reports, the news has come as a huge shock to the racing community.
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