In an article by JENNIFER MORRISON in the Toronto Star, Feb. 29, 2012, David Wilmot, Chair of Woodbine Entertainment Group blamed the uncertainty over the Slots at Racetracks Program for the cloud of gloom currently impacting Ontario breeders’ investment decisions. The article is reprinted below:
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The breeding industry in Ontario is well underway but business is already being negatively affected thanks to the uncertainty caused by the Liberal government’s apparent plan to review the successful racetrack slots program says David Wilmot, Chair of Woodbine Entertainment Group.
“There are already decisions being made, right now, to withdraw investments from the industry,” said Wilmot, who also owns famed Kinghaven Farms in King City. “No matter what happens now, owners and breeders locally in the U.S. are canceling stallion and mare contracts and re-thinking investing in Ontario’s breeding industry.”
Horse racing and breeding has been left in the dark in the weeks following the Drummond Report’s inclusion of a review of the racetrack slots program among its recommendations for cutting the province’s deficit.
Instead, comments and ad campaigns by Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government, deemed ‘reckless’ by Wilmot, have the rocked the industry.
Recent radio ads claiming that the program in place is a “secret subsidy for a few, very wealthy racetrack owners” severely misrepresent the program and are unfounded attacks on a business plan that has been a boon for the province, said Wilmot.
“All we have seen is a confounding, vociferous attack with no details on what the government plans to do,” said Wilmot. “If they have specifics (on plans for a review of the slot program) they better tell us soon because there is already a loss of economy coming.”
Wilmot was instrumental in working with Mike Harris’ PC government in 1996 when approached to by the province to put slot machines in WEG’s two racetracks, Woodbine and Mohawk. Today there are slot machines in all 17 of Ontario’s tracks.
“This program was always about government revenue,” said Wilmot. “It is a bi-lateral, commercial contract agreement that has made the province some $15 billion since its inception.”
The revenue-sharing program allocates 10 per cent of slot revenue to the racetrack, 5 per cent to its horsepeople and another 5 per cent to the community where the slots are located.
“We based the deal on the notion that horse racing would get the same commission on a dollar bet on a slot machine as it would on horse racing and that the revenue impact on breeding and racing would be neutral,” said Wilmot. “If the size of the revenue pie got bigger, that would be great and that is what happened.”
“(Don) Drummond used the terms ‘value for money’ is his report and I would suggest this is easily one of the best values for money of all the contracts the government has.”
Owner and breeder Ron Campbell, who operates C5 Farm in Delta, Ont., is just one of thousands of industry members who have sent letters to government members.
“The cycle in this business, from breeding till sale of the offspring, is 18 to 20 months,” explained Campbell. “If changes are made to the current landscape during this time period, then our investment is lost.”
“The uncertainty that this announcement has created will see breeders like ourselves look to U.S. stallions this year to mitigate some of this risk, virtually gutting the businesses that stand Ontario stallions. Therefore, the industry will already be significantly affected by (the Liberal party’s) comments.”
(Toronto Star)
