Horse racers hope to get finances on track

The race is on to lure more people out to watch horses bolt around Fredericton’s Raceway.

The provincial government used to provide the harness racing industry $600,000 a year, but it pulled the funding in March. The money accounted for 25 per cent of Harness Racing New Brunswick’s operating budget.

Jeff Malloy of Harness Racing NB said that’s not their only challenge. He said audience numbers are also dropping, making it hard for the organization to offer acceptable prize amounts to the racers.

"The horses have to be able to earn enough to maintain themselves," Malloy said. "It puts a lot of pressure on the owners and trainers to be able to continue their business."

"Racing’s gone downhill a bit in New Brunswick in the past two or three years," said Steve Trites, who began racing when he was a teenager.

"There wasn't as much pressure. We were going for enough money back then and everybody seemed to be half-way happy. Now it's a pretty tough business that way, you have to be at the top of your game."

Harness Racing NB is now adding more video lottery terminals to help cover the shortfall. That would require pulling in more than double what they made on VLTs last year.

But Trites said there’s still an argument to be made to convince the province to restore the funding.

"People travel from other provinces to come to stake races. They make money on people coming in, motels, gas food, etc. Everything adds up for them."

Harness racing dates back to the mid-1800s. Trites said the industry needs to look at new ways to introduce an old sport to younger generations.