Fort Erie Race Track welcomes five-year funding deal after months of delay
A dispute over how to share the province's new $35 million a year held up the agreement, and breeders say the wait has already cost them.
Ontario's horse racing industry will receive an extra $35 million a year for five years, ending months of uncertainty for Fort Erie Race Track and other tracks in the province.
Ontario Racing announced the deal on Thursday. The money comes through a fifth amendment to a funding agreement first signed in 2018. About 80 per cent will go to breeders and racing participants, with a full breakdown expected after July 2.
Woodbine held the veto
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) and Ontario Racing both backed the deal, but it stalled because Woodbine Entertainment Group, the province's largest racing operator and the only party with a veto, wanted a bigger share of the money. Woodbine is a not-for-profit that runs tracks in Toronto and Milton. Ontario Racing said the final agreement lets Woodbine keep operating its two tracks and continue handling all wagering for the Ontario industry.
Fort Erie spokesperson James Culic said breeders and trainers felt the delay most. Rising costs for hay, fuel and operations had already pushed some people out, he said, and breeders are now producing fewer horses, which leaves trainers with fewer to race.
David Anderson, president of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society, said Ontario breeders missed this year's breeding season, which usually begins in February. He told CBC News the society's September yearling sale had more than a third fewer young horses than last year, as some breeders moved to the United States. The society had written to Premier Doug Ford on April 10 warning that the deal had stalled.
Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates, who raised the issue at Queen's Park in late April, said the deal protects hundreds of local jobs. He noted track workers had gone nearly a decade without a purse increase while costs climbed.
Jim Thibert, CEO of the Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium, said the funding gives the sector more stability and supports long-term plans to build Niagara into a major tourism destination.
According to OLG, horse racing adds more than $1.9 billion a year to Ontario's economy and supports nearly 18,000 jobs. Fort Erie's 2026 season runs from May 31 to Oct. 20, with the 91st Prince of Wales Stakes on Labour Day, Sept. 7.