New Alberta racetrack will challenge Hastings · 2.12.07

The new racetrack planned for the Calgary area has been delayed for various reasons, so Stampede Park will see another year of racing after it supposedly said farewell to the sport earlier this year. But there’s more to it than that – there’s another operation that got a reprieve at the same time

Nevertheless, this new track will go ahead, if not this year then next, and it will be state-of-the-art “racing entertainment”. It will include a one-mile thoroughbred track (the only one in Canada west of southern Ontario), a 7-furlong standardbred track, a casino, and an entertainment and dining lounge. There are also plans for a theatre, a hotel/conference centre, and even more gaming facilities.

Considering all of the above, it should be obvious that the other racetrack which caught a break with the delay to the new facility is Hastings Park. It doesn’t matter that slots just opened at Hastings, and that there will likely be more coming in the new year. Using some of that new slots revenue to build new barns, renovate the clubhouse, slap a new coat of paint on the grandstand, or any number of possible improvements to Hastings’ facilities, will not change one fundamental problem.

The problem is this: given a choice, what trainer would want his/her horses running on our little 5-furlong bull-ring, with its sharp turns and short straightaways, when those horses could stretch out at a world-class, full-size 1-mile track in Calgary?

One could argue that Emerald Downs, Portland Meadows, and the northern California tracks, all within comparable distances of Vancouver, haven’t sucked horses and competition away in the past, so why would a new Alberta track do so now? The answer is that the new track is in Alberta – in Canada, not the U.S. The owner or trainer that might hesitate to move operations to another country will likely not hesitate to move to the province next-door.

The “gee-whiz” factor of a brand-new, state-of-the-art racing facility will also tend to lure stables across the Rockies.

What can Hastings do? Simple: dust off all the old plans for expanding the track to a mile, or at least 7 furlongs, pick one, and run with it. Looking at it from above, using Google Maps, you can see that there is room for a larger track, if one is prepared to move some of the barns and accept a non-standard configuration. A wider clubhouse turn, or an extra curve on the backstretch near McGill Street, should allow a full-size racecourse to be shoe-horned into to existing physical space.

If the city or the Hastings Conservancy succeed in blocking such a project, Great Canadian Gaming Corp. should switch to Plan B: build a new track in the suburbs, which has also been proposed a number of times in the past, or centralize all it’s racing operations at their harness track at Fraser Downs.

Don’t get me wrong – I love Hastings. I love that it’s almost in the heart of the city, within relatively easy driving or transit distance. My family and I have a lot of good memories from there, and we hope to create more memories in the future. But I suspect that the future of thoroughbred racing in the Vancouver region depends on accepting the Alberta challenge and accepting some drastic changes.

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What do you think?

  1. Good blog.I enjoy playing Hastings in the spring and during the summer.The horses are fairly consistent compared to some of the cheaper US tracks.
    Good hunting

    — maurice gatin · Feb 6, 10:16 AM · #

  2. Whilst GC owns the track, your plans will never happen.. there’s no return for there investment. And they’ll never sell the place either, as a new owner may very well move the track and slot licence to a location that would cannibalize one of their other locations (Coquiltam Richmond or Fraser)… Hastings as we know it is hear to stay… let’s just hope that they fix up the barn area before they realise that the slots are no where near as productive as they has hoped.. otherwise it will never get done.

    — DC · Feb 6, 01:52 PM · #

  3. I suspect/fear that you are right – but if so, I fear for the future of racing in Vancouver.

    The current issue of Canadian Thoroughbred has a big write-up on the new track. Construction has begun, and they are scheduled to open spring 2009. If the track is succesful, in a couple of years you will likely hear a giant sucking sound as horsemen move their operations out of Hastings and head to Alberta.

    — E-man · Feb 6, 11:16 PM · #

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