The Canadian Sportsman
Small Victories
Back To Small VictoriesMay 20, 2010
File these four Small Victories under adapting to the marketplace. Led by the biggest news of all: betting is up at Western Fair Raceway in London, ON (which means purses are up, too).
• Betting and Purses are up at Western Fair
A simple tweak in the schedule (there’s that adapting concept, again) is the biggest reason wagering is up almost 10 per cent at the track in London, said racing and gaming manager Ian Fleming.
Western Fair not only was one of the few medium-sized Ontario tracks operating in the winter, they only had one night card a week, with 3:35 p.m. post times the rest of the time.
“Obviously, you don’t get a very big crowd on-track for that,” Fleming said of the mid-afternoon post time, “but simulcasting in the future is going to be based on people betting off-track.
“It’s getting your races out there, when there’s not much competition for the dollar.
“We just go one night a week. I think that helps our live crowd on-track, because if they want to come to the live races at night, it’s the only night they can come.
“The London Knights only play one night (at home) a week and they’re the most successful (junior hockey) franchise in Canada. When we go three or four nights a week at a place like London and people don’t come out, we wonder why. The Knights aren’t dumb enough to try and do it.”
SIRIUS XM Radio has announced that it will offer live coverage of some of harness racing’s biggest events on a new horse racing series set to debut on Sat., May 29 and air for 11 consecutive weeks.
“Saturday Night at the Races” will offer listeners wire-to-wire coverage of some of the biggest races of the summer including the Meadowlands Pace, the North America Cup, the Yonkers Trot, the Art Rooney, the Maple Leaf Trot, the Dan Patch and the James Lynch Memorial.
The series will kick off May 29 (10 p.m. eastern on SIRIUS channel 126 and XM channel 243) and will feature races from the Meadowlands, Hoosier Park and Pocono Downs. Visit www.sirius.com/horseracing for a schedule of races, including post times and venues.
• Dresden racing on local radio
Small tracks that don’t simulcast have long been hindered by not getting their signal out, especially for owners and fans that can’t make it to the track. No longer.
This summer, tiny Dresden Raceway will have its race calls carried live on Sunday afternoons on Wallaceburg, ON radio station CKXS (99.1 FM) and streamed live on the Internet at www.ckxsfm.com.
• Hanover races live-streamed
Hanover Raceway takes the Dresden concept one step further. The track shows video of all its races live on its website: www.hanoverraceway.com.
All of which proves racing can survive, perhaps even thrive, if it is willing to accommodate the changing needs of its customers.
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