Hold your horses: The end of 150 years of harness racing in Fredericton

Horse Racing New Brunswick is moving its operations from Fredericton to Saint John as its lease for office space from Fredericton Exhibition is set to expire on Dec. 31 and will not be renewed.

The horse racing group also operates Winner's Lounge on the exhibition grounds. Its last day of operation will be Saturday and the lounge will move to 830 Hanwell Road.

Winner's Lounge manager Ian Abercrombie said it is his understanding that there will no longer be harness racing at Fredericton Raceway.

"At this stage, it's finished at the raceway," he said. "It's a shame.

"One hundred fifty years of history is over."

There were three cards of racing in Fredericton in 2016.

Fredericton Exhibition executive director Mike Vokey said because the matter is "such a sensitive issue" with the exhibition's volunteer board of directors, and there is such an emotional connection with harness racing, he will not be commenting until the New Year.

Groups engaged in bitter dispute

The two groups engaged in a bitter dispute over the past year.

At one point, the horse racing association was locked out of its offices and the lounge by Fredericton Exhibition, which maintained the association had violated the terms of its lease.

"They couldn't lock us out, so they've priced us out," said Abercrombie. He said the lease demanded an extra $4,000 a month.

The horse racing association took the dispute to court and was granted an injunction allowing it to regain access to the leased space and resume operations.

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• Horse Racing new Brunswick denied zoning change to operate VLT lounge

The court ordered that the terms of the existing lease be honoured. That lease expires Dec. 31 and the parties did not negotiate a new lease.

Horse Racing New Brunswick wanted to move the Winner's video-lottery lounge to a property in the area of York and Aberdeen streets. A zoning change was required to allow the lounge to operate in that area.

However, after loud objections by area residents, city council refused to grant the zoning change, which forced the horse racing group to abandon its plans to move Winner's to that location.