Racetrack delays diminish horse racer’s business

Harness racing isn't all fun and games. A lot of work goes into maintaining a stable. Carolyn Jarrell, owner of CJ Stables, takes a moment to feed her yearlings breakfast.

By Renee Rodgers

All the delays in the new Belleville raceway have caused at least one local harness racer to reevaluate his involvement in the sport entirely.

Darryl Drain, who lives near Stirling, used to train and race horses for a living but now does it on a recreational basis. When Drain first heard discussion of a new Quinte racetrack and slot facility in 2006, he was thrilled.

“When it was announced I think I was living in Cambridge racing horses full time and I was hugely excited about it,” he said. “At that point my future looked like I was coming back to my home to race where I knew people.”

In fact, it was talk of the new racetrack that encouraged Drain to move his family closer to Belleville. But now, his discouragement over the holdup has caused him to gradually lessen his participation in harness racing and focus more on his poultry operation in Tweed.

“I though it was coming,” he said. “Then when it took longer and longer and longer, that’s one of the major turning points of me cutting back in the industry.”

Drain used to see several of his horses race every week. He now only watches them about three times a month. Since there is no track nearby, Drain, like other local racers, often travels to Kawartha Downs & Speedway in Peterborough, Georgian Downs in Barrie, Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto or the Rideau Carlton Raceway in Ottawa.

In 2008, it looked like Quinte would soon have its new raceway and casino. An official sod-turning ceremony was held in August that year and, at that time, construction on the development was expected to begin within weeks. Now, almost three years later, the land remains bare, leaving many people wondering if work on the development will ever begin. Mayor Neil Ellis has insisted all along Belleville will have its raceway and casino very soon. In a recent interview, Ellis again stated work would be starting within months.

“It sounds like it’s pretty well getting there, that there will hopefully be something happening this summer,” he said.

But it’s a tune local harness racers like Drain have heard before. This time, they say they’ll believe it when they see it.

If work on the development doesn’t get underway soon, Drain will be left to decide if all the traveling, gas, and mileage is worth keeping his horses.

“I am very keen to see (the raceway) happen,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, then I will probably go down to one horse – and maybe no horses at all if it doesn’t happen in the next little while.”

Other local harness racers, such as Carolyn Jarrell, are exited to see the new raceway as well. Jarrell owns and operates CJ Stables in Corbyville with her husband Jack McDonnell. Their have 15 horses including four broodmares and seven yearlings. Retired from their jobs, the couple spends much of their time training and caring for their horses – that is when they’re not racing.

Jarrell and McDonnell usually race at Kawartha Downs in Peterborough. Otherwise it’s the Rideau Carlton Raceway in Ottawa.

Jarrell said she is looking forward to the construction of a raceway and slot machine facility on Bell Boulevard.

“We really need it,” she said.

If anything, the new facilities will mean less traveling for the couple and their horses. But that’s not the only reason Jarrell is looking forward to the new development. It will also mean money for the community. That money can be used towards local improvement initiatives, something Jarrell pointed out is being done in other cities with these facilities.

“I don’t think there’s a municipality that has a slot area that’s not doing well,” she said.

Kevin Benn, owner of Benn Stables in Napanee, does harness racing for a living. He drives long distances to race his horses and he said the high price of gas eats into his profits. For Benn, a local racetrack would cut down on drive time.

“Right now I have to travel to Kawartha, which is an hour and a half away, where I could be at the one on Bell Boulevard in 25 minutes,” he said.

Benn, who has raced horses all over Ontario, said his interest in harness racing began years ago when he used to watch his father compete at the old Bridge and Sidney Street raceway. That track became rundown and outdated, Benn said, in the years leading up to its closure.

“It was probably one of the poorest ones in Ontario,” he said.

Benn believes it’s high time for a new, up-to-date raceway in Belleville. For one thing, it will keep money in the community.

“I know a lot of people from Belleville that go to the races in Kawartha,” he said. “Some people are harness racing fans and others are slot fans so they go to Kawartha or they go to Gananoque to the slots. They’re going to stay in Belleville, you know?”

While Benn is hopeful the new casino will eventually be built, he remains skeptical.

“I’m not holding my breath,” he said. “When they call for entries for the race, then I’ll believe it. It’s ongoing for me. I’ve gone to so many meetings and come home disheartened so many times that I’m not getting my hopes up this time.”

Should the raceway never materialize, Benn will continue to do what he has been doing.

“I still have to survive by taking my horses to Peterborough, Rideau Carlton, Woodbine,” he said. “I have to do what I have to do to make a living.”

Brian Tropea, General Manager of the Ontario Harness Horse Association, has been following plans for the new development on Bell Boulevard closely. Many, Belleville area OHHA members, he said, are eager for construction to begin.

Many local people are annoyed by the recurring delays in construction of the new facilities, Tropea said.

“There’s obviously a lot of frustration. The slots at racetracks program came about in 1998. Belleville could have actually built the slot facility in 1998. So we’re 13 years down the road now and we’re still waiting for one to be built.”

Thirteen years of delays means thirteen years of the City of Belleville missing out on a share of the proceeds. Also, the setbacks are causing local racers to take Mayor Ellis’s tireless insistence that the raceway is closer than ever with a grain of salt.

“A lot of people ask me, ‘When’s that Belleville track going to go?’,” Benn said. “I just say I’ve been holding my breath for six years or more. So we’ll see.”