Fort Erie Race Track secures five-year funding deal after months of deadlock

Fort Erie Race Track secured the provincial funding deal it spent the spring fighting for on Thursday, but the months of delay already drove some breeders and trainers out of the industry.

Ontario Racing announced Thursday that Ontario will put an additional $35 million a year into the horse racing industry for the next five years. The money comes from the fifth amendment to the funding agreement first signed in 2018, and roughly 80 per cent of it will go to the breeding sector and racing participants across Ontario’s 15 tracks.

Full details on how the funding is split will not be public until after July 2.

The deal had stalled for months. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and Ontario Racing both backed the agreement, but Woodbine Entertainment Group, Ontario’s largest racing operator and the only party with veto power, blocked it over a dispute about how the $35 million would be divided.

Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates said in a statement on Friday that the agreement protects hundreds of local jobs and gives the track a long-term funding solution it lacked through the standoff.

“We’re on the path to undoing the damage that was done from the delay,” Gates said.

Fort Erie Race Track spokesperson James Culic told Fort Erie Radio in June that the funding delay was hardest on the people who raise and prepare the horses for the track. Rising hay, fuel and operational costs had already pushed some out of the industry entirely.

“Breeders aren’t breeding as many horses, and in turn, trainers are not preparing as many horses to compete,” said Culic.

David Anderson, president of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society, said the delay forced Ontario breeders to miss this year’s breeding season, which usually starts in February.

The society’s September yearling sale drew more than a third fewer young horses than last year, Anderson told CBC News, as breeders moved their operations to the United States.

Gates has also said track workers went nearly a decade without a purse increase while costs rose steadily, and warned those pressures could force workers to leave Fort Erie entirely. Purses are the prize money paid to the grooms, trainers and owners of winning horses.

Woodbine, a not-for-profit corporation that operates Ontario’s two largest tracks in Toronto and Milton, had demanded a larger cut of the $35 million, stalling the deal for the other 14 tracks in the province.

The final agreement reworked the framework to let Woodbine keep operating its two tracks and continue running all wagering for the Ontario industry, according to Ontario Racing.

The Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society wrote to Premier Doug Ford on April 10, warning the agreement had stalled over Woodbine’s position. Gates raised the issue at Queen’s Park in late April, pressing the province to force the deal through.

“When we worked across the aisle and kept the focus on people’s jobs, this deal moved quickly from delayed to done,” Gates said.

The horse racing industry contributes more than $1.9 billion a year to Ontario’s economy and supports nearly 18,000 jobs, according to Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.

Jim Thibert, CEO of the Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium, which runs live racing at the track, said in a statement that the investment builds on Ontario’s long-term plan to make Niagara a world-class tourism destination.

“This funding gives our sector more stability, and we look forward to continuing the work to keep horse racing strong in Fort Erie and across Ontario,” said Thibert.

The 2026 season runs from May 31 to October 20, and the 91st Prince of Wales Stakes is scheduled for Labour Day, September 7.

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