Dispute over horse racing revenues heads to Halifax court

A dispute among Nova Scotia's horse racing tracks over betting revenue is headed before a judge this week.

Truro Raceway is requesting a stay in a decision from the Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission that would distribute some revenues more evenly across the province.

The other two horse racing tracks in the province are Northside Downs and Inverness Raceway, which are both in Cape Breton. They successfully argued to the commission in November that revenue from online and telephone betting was being disproportionately distributed to Truro.

Anthony Stymest, the president and director of Truro Raceway, said it would be detrimental to their business if the decision stands.

"We feel the racing commission made a decision without doing a study on the impact it will have, the negative impact it will have on Truro Raceway and the negative impact it will have on the industry as a whole," said Stymest.

Betting revenue 

Online and telephone betting in the province goes through a website called HPIbet.com.

The site allows anyone in Nova Scotia to bet on horse races anywhere in North America. Portions of the revenue are collected based on where the bettor is located. 

Under the current distribution system, 63 per cent goes to Truro Raceway, 22 per cent to Northside Downs and 15 per cent to Inverness Raceway. 

The new ruling allocates revenues based on area codes.

Under the new system, Truro would receive the revenues from mainland Nova Scotia with the exception of a few area codes in Dartmouth. Those would go to the two Cape Breton tracks.

Government subsidy

The Nova Scotia government also subsidizes the harness racing industry with a $1-million fund. In 2022, that funding was divided evenly among the three tracks.

In court documents filed in the stay request, Truro Raceway said the new system would result in a loss of approximately $133,000 of revenue per year.

That loss would have a far-reaching effect on the raceway, Stymest said. He said it would reduce this year's slate of race events from 31 to 14.

"And it just snowballs from there," said Stymest.

He said it would also mean staff cuts. He said people on the mainland who make their livelihood from the industry would be affected.

"An owner cannot pay his bills racing 14 times a year when you have to keep a horse 52 weeks a year," Stymest said. "So, ultimately, they will move their horses to other jurisdictions to help pay the cost."

Northside operator says track deserves more

Joel LeBlanc, the chair of Harness Racing Cape Breton that operates Northside Downs, said the track deserves more of the betting revenues because nearly a quarter of it is generated in his area.

"A formula that reflects where the revenue is being generated from should obviously be a big factor here and that wasn't the case in the previous arrangement," said LeBlanc.

LeBlanc said the increased revenue would help with expanding operations and putting on more events. Even with the redistributed funds, he said it shouldn't be a make-or-break situation for any of the tracks.

"It's not a game-changing amount of dollars that's basically going to either put one track into a huge surplus and going to put another track out of business," LeBlanc said. "A more fair distribution of these funds is going to allow all three tracks to benefit."

The motion will be heard in a Halifax court on Feb. 2.