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Monday, December 3, 2012

03DEC - Toronto Maple Leafs TOP SCORERS 2012-13



NEW Maple Leafs Aucoin, Kostka, Ranger shine

Although nobody is really tearing up their league, most of the Leafs players and prospects are continuing to develop in 2012-2013, with Joe Colborne's slow start the notable exception. Aucoin, Kadri, Kulemin and Grabovski are all performing as management had hoped and expected, with Morgan Reilly, Josh Nicholls and Tyler Biggs all putting up big numbers in junior ranks. Reilly was recently invited to Team Canada junior camp.

The biggest outperformer has been Mike Kostka, and it would not be surprising to see he and Jake Gardiner remain a tandem with the Leafs. Komarov, Zigomanis and Hamilton have been consistent as usual,  and Matt Frattin, whose season is just getting underway, has 7 goals in 8 games. One blessing of the NHL lockout is that there are no fans and pundits screaming for Paul Ranger's promotion to the Maple Leafs, as he leads the Toronto Marlies with a +9 even strength rating.

Between the pipes, Ben Scrivens (7-6) shook off a spotty start and is nearing peak form, while Rynnas has been sensational (3-0-1). Mark Owuya (2-2) is still looking to regain last season's form, however he is the youngest pro Leafs goalie and is still learning the AHL game, having played half of last season in the ECHL. In the OHL, Garret Sparks (15-7) of Guelph Storm has been solid to spectacular, stealing a few games for his teammates.

At yesterday's Marlies game, Nazem Kadri was about to get into a scrap with Lake Erie's Bill Thomas, but Brad Ross quickly stepped in to take the fight, and delivered a victory too. Brian Burke was sure to notice future Leafs power forward Ross protecting an explosive current asset that may center the Leafs top line sooner rather than later. 


weighted points

Aucoin AHL 20 x 2 = 40

Kulemin KHL 18 x 2 = 36

Kadri AHL 18 x 2 = 36

Kostka AHL 18 x 2 = 36

Grabovski KHL 17 x 2 = 34

Biggs OHL 31 x 1 = 31

Komarov  AHL/KHL 15 (9+6) x 2 = 30

Nicholls WHL 30 x 1 = 30

Gardiner AHL 14 x 2 = 28

Zigomanis AHL 11 x 2 = 22



weighted goals

Nicholls WHL 19 x 1 = 19

Kulemin KHL 9 x 2 = 18

Grabovski KHL 8 x 2 = 16

Biggs 15 x 1 = 15

Frattin AHL 7 x 2 = 14

Hamilton AHL 7 x 2 = 14

Komarov AHL/KHL 6/1 x 2 = 14




weighted defencemen

Kostka AHL 13 x 2 = 26

Reilly WHL 26
Gardiner AHL 11 x 2 = 22
Finn OHL18
Percy OHL 17





unweighted +/-

Kulemin KHL +11

Biggs OHL +11

Ranger AHL +9

Komarov AHL/KHL(7+2) = 8



unweighted save percentage

Rynnas .938

Sparks .916

Scrivens .910

Owuya .833


Sunday, November 18, 2012

toronto maple leafs 2012-2013 stats

preliminary data, as of 18nov12



weighted* scoring race

aucoin 14 x 2 = 28

grabovsky 13 x 2 = 26

kadri   13 x 2 = 26

kostka 13 x 2 = 26

nicholls 26

kulemin 12 x 2 = 24

biggs 23

leivo 23

gardiner 22

reilly 21

komarov 9 x 2 = 18

zigomanis 9 x 2 = 18

finn 18



weighted* scoring defensemen

kostka 13 x 2 = 26

gardiner 11 x 2 = 22

reilly 21

finn 18



unweighted plus minus

kulemin +9

biggs +8

komarov +6

nicholls +6

fraser +5

ranger +5

colborne +4



unweighted save percentage

rynnas .938

sparks .912

scrivens .888

owuya .838




* ahl / khl = x 2


Sunday, November 11, 2012

Weighted TOP 5 Maple Leafs Top Scorers 2012-2013

Toronto Maple Leafs Prospects Scoring Race

Josh Nicholls, Saskatoon Blades

The following scoring standings reflect Maple Leafs players or prospects currently playing in the KHL, AHL, NCAA or CHL.


11NOV12 - Overall top 5*

1. josh nicholls 25 whl
2. nikolai kulemin 22 khl
3. mikhail grabovsky 22 khl
4. keith aucoin 22 ahl
5. tyler biggs 21 ohl
5. morgan reilly 21 whl

* ahl / khl points = x 2
ncaa = x 1.5 (shorter season than canadian junior)
chl (whl/ohl/qmjhl) = 1


Tyler Biggs, now with Oshawa Generals

All of the above are playing up to expectations, while other Leafs prospects off to strong starts include Leo Komarov (with 5 goals, 7 points and a Marlies-leading Plus 5 rating), Mike Kostka (2 goals, 6 assists) and Jake Gardiner (4 goals and 3 assists). Jussi Rynnas has two shutouts and a 0.98 GAA after 3 starts.

Joe Colborne and Nazem Kadri appear to be rounding into form, and the Marlies have been looking tougher by the week.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Open Letter to Sandra Pupatello; Ontario Liberal leadership


This past March, a decision was made in your absence that has the effect of burdening Ontario taxpayers with a much lager deficit, while at the same time halving an industry and putting 30,000 jobs at risk.

The OLG decision to close profitable slots in Fort Erie, Windsor and Hiawatha racetracks was an attempt to cover up casino losses in Niagara Falls, Windsor and Sarnia, so those 3 locations can also have slots re-instated to increase Ontario government revenues.

The decision to end the entire Slots-At-Racing partnership in March 2013 takes Ontario away from a highly workable and fully equitable province-wide business agreement and positions the province to allow Las vegas mega-corporations to come in and take the lion's share of casino, slots and sports book betting revenues. The WORST thing would be to destroy rural and smalltown Ontario so that OLG can partner with a Vegas giant to create downtown casinos that nobody wants. OLG is NOT successful in the casino business, whereas the SAR partnership is their most profitable enterprise and is also the second biggest contributor to Ontario's coffers, right after the LCBO. The racetracks are the IDEAL locations to launch sports book operations, without the involvement of foreign partners.

An extension to the current partnership is the best solution, and sports book betting profits should be split along similar lines as slot revenues, with 75% going to province and 5% to local community (plus 10% for ractetrack operator and 10% for horse racing purses). Sandra, if you run on a platform that includes a two-year extension to Slots-At-Racing (including a return of slots to Windsor, Fort Erie and Sarnia), you will then have:

- 2.2 billion dollars more (over two years) to spend on healthcare and schools and keeping taxes low (OLG has no plans or ability to replace this revenue if SAR ends in March)
- about 10,000 new volunteers province-wide, many of whom live in electoral ridings traditionally held by Conservatives, and these horse people will work tirelessly for both your leadership campaign and the coming election

In addition to having extensive support across the province, if you run in Tecumseh-Windsor and support a two-year extension to SAR and re-instatement of slots at Windsor Raceway, you will have an incredibly strong and diverse local team to build upon.

You are our best hope for returning fiscal sanity to Ontario planning. When you support horse racing, SAR and budgetary sanity, you will receive tremendous province-wide support, and have a significantly smaller provincial deficit to work with.


Joseph Trainor, Publisher
Horses and Hockey Blog

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Top 30 Toronto Maple Leafs 2012-2013 Roster

Here are 30 players that just may be invited to Toronto Maple Leafs 2012-2013 training camp, if there ever is one:


1. Kessel, F
2. Lupul, F
3. Grabovski, F
4. Phaneuf, D
5. Gardiner, D

6. Van Riemsdyk, F
7. Reimer, G
8. Liles, D
9. Bozak, F
10. Kulemin, F

11. MacArthur, F
12. Kadri, F
13.  Connolly, F
14. Steckel, F
15. Gunnarsson, D

16. Frattin, F
17. Scrivens, G
18. Lombardi, F
19. McClement, F
20. Komarov, F

21. Brown, F
22. Rosehill, F
23. Orr, F
24. Kostka, D
25. Ranger, D

26. Holzer, D
27. Rynnas, G
28. Komisarek, D
29. Aucoin, F
30. Fraser, D

Notables:

31. Franson (unrestricted FA playing this year in Europe)
32. McKegg (playing well with Marlies)
33. Colborne (getting closer to another shot)
34. Reilly (likely to play with Team Canada Juniors)
35. Ashton (physical presence suits NHL)

More depth in the system: Zigomanis, Hamilton, D'Amigo, Deschamps, Biggs (Oshawa Generals), Owuya, Scott, Blacker, Percy, Ross, Acton, Gysbers, Yeo, Abbott


Marlies facing tougher AHL rosters

Where the Marlies previously had an advantage over other AHL teams due to their core of veterans and promising prospects, the influx of NHL players thus far in 2012-13 has flattened the playing surface. AHL stars such as Aucoin, Zigomanis and Kostka are joined by young Leaf Jake Gardiner and a wide range of prospects.

While everyone was focused on names like Kadri, Colborne, Frattin (out with an injury) and Holzer, other names have played as well or better.


Ranger, Kostka, McKegg and Ryan

Paul Ranger is playing like he plans on returning to life as a Top Four NHL rearguard. Mike Kostka is solid as Gardiner's partner and it's not difficult to envision the pair of them patrolling the Maple Leafs' blueline. Other top Marlies defenders include Korbinian Holzer, Mark Fraser, Jesse Blacker, Simon Gysbers, and Dylan Yeo .

Up front, Greg McKegg and Kenny Ryan have contributed to a potent offence that also includes Keith Aucoin, Mike Zigomanis, Joe Colborne, Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov, Ryan Hamilton and Jerry D'Amigo. Depth forwards include Carter Ashton, Brad Ross, Spencer Abbott, Nicholas Deschamps, Greg Scott, and Will Acton.


No goalie is ready yet

Though Ben Scrivens is slated to be the backup netminder for the NHL squad, neither he nor his Marlies teammates have shown that any of them are ready for a promotion. Scrivens proved himself at this level the past two years and appears ready for a shot, however if the NHL does come back this year, Burke would be wise to sign a free agent goalie with some big league experience, for as a minimum it would push Reimer and Scrivens to earn rather than be allocated their positions.


Kadri and Colborne; one bright light

If one compares their NHL stints with their average play in the AHL, both Joe Colborne and Nazem Kadri have played better in the bigs than they have in the minors. As a team, the Leafs have also played well with either or both of these gents in the lineup. This means they are able to rise to the occasion, and also they do not feel overwhelmed at the top level.


If NHL plays in 2012-13, which Marlies will make it?

100% - Jake Gardiner

80%+ - Matt Frattin, Ben Scrivens

60-70% - Mike Kostka, Nazem Kadri, Leo Komariov

40-50% - Paul Ranger, Korbinian Holzer, Joe Colborne, Jussi Rynnas

20-30% - Keith Aucoin, Mike Zigomanis, Jesse Blacker, Mark Fraser, Ryan Hamilton, Greg McKegg, Mark Owuya, Kenny Ryan

10-15% - Nicholas Deschamps, Carter Ashton


The newfound parity in the American Hockey League means that, at least until the NHL returns to action, the Marls will be in a battle every night. The tough games are also revealing to scouts who is ready to step up, and NHL GMs are taking notice.







Highlights of OMAFRA Report on Ontario Horse Racing



As a way of avoiding a profanity-laced rant, I am going to begin my dissertation by offering up some bright lights contained within the wholly misguided and overwhelmingly disappointing Final Report of the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel.



Amid a plethora of misunderstandings and assaults on taxpayer reason, one ray of hope emerges:

The panel recommends that the horse racing industry be permitted to offer new gaming products.  Options include:  a racing-specific lottery; sports book (betting on single sporting events, which could be legalized if pending federal legislation is enacted); and a new pari-mutuel product called historical horse racing (which involves betting through an electronic terminal on the outcome of past races, which are not identified to the player).   

These new products could potentially generate revenue that could be used to offset the need for direct public funding, enhance live racing in Ontario and return revenue to the treasury.


First, racing does NOT receive "direct public funding", but rather has always provided revenue to the government from the beginnings of the industry. The SAR Program being discussed is the second-most economically successful public-private partnership in Ontario's history, after only the LCBO.

In any case the point of promoting these "new products" is that essentially, OMAFRA believes we can develop gambling options in concert with OLG for the benefit of both, which we have a tremendous precedent for. It's called Slots-At-Racing, and the program has provided over $10 billion to the public treasury of our province, while at the same time vaulting Ontario's Standardbred horse racing industry to a position of world dominance.

Here's another section worth discussing:

It is important to note that, due to modern technology, horse racing now operates in a global market.  Nearly two thirds of pari-mutuel wagering in Ontario is on foreign product.  Ontario tracks net about $20 million a year from bets placed on Ontario races by horseplayers outside the province.  Many of today’s horseplayers closely follow and wager on racing in international markets that provide a quality racing product on a consistent basis.  Growing Ontario’s share of this competitive world market is crucial to achieving long-term sustainability. 

Ontario’s gross pari-mutuel handle has been slipping in recent years.  It reached $1.2 billion in 2001 and was approximately $1 billion in 2011.  The future of horse racing in Ontario depends on maintaining and expanding the pari-mutuel pool.  Without a strong take-up of Ontario product by horseplayers, the industry will require unsustainable levels of public support.

Agreeing with the above, one must understand that while the handle is flat to down over the past decade at most tracks, we have also allowed intense competition in the form of slot machines directly on our premises. Considering the appeal of online poker and expanding global sports betting, we have held our own and have a strong foundation to build upon, if we are not assaulted by self-motivated OLG bureaucrats.

One must also respect that the highly competitive nature of both Ontario's Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses is a socially beneficial offshoot of the highly rewarding SARP business agreement. The biggest problem with most if not all of the horse racing industry arguments has been the focus on the damage ending SARP will do to horse racing, when that is just the obvious outcome of a terribly short-sighted and faulty decision. 

The focus needs to be on the massive losses to taxpayers that WILL RESULT from ending SARP prematurely. OLG has ZERO concrete plans to replace this $1.1 billion in annual funding that horse racing currently provides to the government, yet the program is slated to end in FOUR MONTHS! Ending SARP now will add $1.1 billion dollars to Ontario's yearly deficit. Add to that the costs of unemployment insurance, welfare, bankruptcies, lost tax revenue and retraining of horse people and the costs of this error will approach $2.5 to 3 billion annually.

Additionally, the local communities that lose $75 million annually by ending Slots-At-Racing will also bear the brunt of increasing unemployment and declining tourist dollars.

Okay, now here's the bullshit "solution" offered in the OMAFRA Report:

the panel proposes a racing schedule with a total of 800 race days, about half the current total.




The 744 race dates they would like to cut are 91.7% Standardbred racing days (682) proposed for elimination, and this massacre is based on a faulty premise:

Currently, more than 60 per cent of purse money awarded in Ontario horse races comes from SARP – a source unrelated to the horse racing customer.


Oh really... I remember a fiscal crisis in Ontario during the 1990s when the Government needed money and had no place to put its slot machines. We offered them our parking lots and facilities and instant access to the most dedicated gamblers... so to say that Slots-At-Racing is "unrelated to the horse racing customer" is disingenuous at best and fraudulent in reality.

I know of more than a few couples where the man bets on the horses and the woman plays the slots, and they arrive in one car. So is ALL that slots money actually unrelated to horse racing? Of course not, statements like that are in the report as an attempt to justify a boneheaded decision by government ministers based on faulty strategy from OLG executives. They closed profitable SARP locations in Fort Erie, Windsor and Hiawatha precisely to cover up significant casino losses in Niagara Falls, Windsor and Sarnia, and now they propose ending SARP so they can venture further into operating casinos. Yikes; taxpayers take shelter!!!

I have a plan to expand and renew SARP so that within five years it provides over $2 billion annually to provincial and local governments, while continuing to re-invest in local communities and farms that support our world-class horse racing product.

I ask for a one or two year extension to SARP so that the Ontario deficit and unemployment situation will not worsen, and to provide time for me to prepare and present my plan. We will attempt to maintain our Standardbred industry at the top of the planet, while working to improve our Thoroughbred product for the international market, expanding both industries so that total employment by 2018 will be in the 75,000 to 80,000 range, up from the current 55,000 to 60,000. Supporting and promoting local tracks and rural communities also boosts Ontario tourism, while closing tracks decimates local restaurants and lodging facilities.

Within ten years my plan to build upon the Slots-At-Racing Program will see employment in the 85,000 range and horse race tracks annual contribution to the provincial treasury will exceed $3 billion annually, through a combination of pari-mutuel, slots, sports betting and new methods of playing horses directly from your corner store.

As part of my request for a two-year extension to Slots-At-Racing, I am proposing a single ticket that can be used to play Woodbine, Mohawk, Flamboro or Georgian Downs multi-race Pick 4 wagers, and this ticket will be purchasable and processable through regular OLG terminals. A portion of these revenues will be allocated to each racetrack and community that participates in SARP, as a way of continuing to grow the racing / OLG partnership with modern technology, and providing ongoing support to small-town Ontario and rural agricultural communities.

Please suggest to your local Mayor or MPP that a two-year extension to SARP should be enacted, and I ensure you that my plan to grow Ontario's horse racing industry will then gain traction, and sanity will return to Ontario's fiscal planning.


Friday, October 19, 2012

UPDATE on NHL expansion: Toronto and Seattle

Contrary to my previous post indicating that NHL expansion teams would go to Toronto and Quebec, more recent info indicates that the expansion teams are going to Seattle and Toronto (Markham), while Quebec City will be the new home of the Coyotes.

It is expected that the announcement will be a couple of weeks after the CBA deal is announced and NHL schedule resumes, and the new teams will join for the 2014-2015 season, bringing the National Hockey League to four divisions of 8 teams per.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Reimer skates with Canucks, NHL expanding to Quebec and Toronto


Hockey-related news item #1 - Reimer skates with Canucks




According to sources, James Reimer working out with the Canucks players happened because he was visiting relatives in town and wanted to skate, and not because he is being traded for Roberto Luongo. Methinks that although that may be the case, it is also true that Vancouver would want Reimer as part of the Luongo deal, so who knows what's really going on here?


Hockey-related news item #2 - NHL expansion


Proposed new GTA Centre in Markham, just north of Toronto

The spec now is that after the new CBA is done, new NHL teams will be announced for Quebec City and Toronto (Markham). The expansion fee could be in the $380 million range, and Markham would have to pay an additional territorial fee to the Toronto Maple Leafs to allow a team within 50km of Toronto city limits. Though that hurdle sounds difficult, the talk is that the fee ($120 million?) for accessing the Toronto market has already been established and agreed upon, as one of the conditions of allowing Rogers and Bell to buy MLSE.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Ontario Place and Slots At Racetracks closings linked

Desperate Liberals relying on deceptive backroom deals


I am saddened and dismayed by the lack of unity among Ontario horse people, and particularly troubled by Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) and OHRIA's apparent willingness to sell out the farm system and their complicity in the province's plan to reduce the number of racetracks from 17 to 7. Let's look back half a year to when our difficulties began.

In late winter of 2012, Ontarians were hit with two bombshells from the Ontario Government within weeks, and the two events appear to be inextricably linked. At the beginning of February the government stunned GTA residents by announcing the closure of the much-loved Ontario Place, and then at the end of the month they shocked the Ontario horse racing industry by declaring the Slots At Racetracks (SAR) partnership a dead duck, even though the program contributes over $1 billion annually to Ontario's coffers and has been the OLG's most consistent and biggest winner over the past decade.

The Ontario Place and SAR debacles have served to take some of the spotlight away from the provincial Liberals' E-Health and Orange fiascos and diverted attention from Ontario's record $14 billion annual deficit, which will soon be $15 billion or higher if the slots are removed from racetracks.


The Beginning of the End

February and March 2012 will go down in history as either the beginning of the end of the McGuinty-led Liberal government, or it will mark the end of an Ontario that embraces “community”, and be hugely symbolic of the corporate takeover of our province.

Big lie #1 - Ontario Place is dying, we must close it - Feb 2012

Fact: Ontario Place attendance was up 89% lat year, and the park was in the middle of a revitalization program that was meeting with great success.


Big lie #2 - We will transfer the 300 million dollar “subsidy” from Ontario horse racing to hospitals and schools - Mar 2012

Fact: The funds were never government revenues in the first place so cannot be deemed a subsidy. The proposed strategy is impossible for that 300 million cannot be transferred if the program is ended and the money goes away; the horsemen and racetrack share can be renegotiated, however it cannot be transferred elsewhere. In reality, ending the Slots At Racetracks partnership will serve to enlarge the provincial deficit by $1.1 billion per year (the amount horsemen currently provide to provincial government coffers as Ontario's share of our business partnership agreement for slots on our land), as the OLG have no plans in place to replace that revenue by the proposed closing date of March, 2013.

The municipalities that host the Slots At Racetracks facilities currently receive 5% of the profits and this goes a long way towards balancing municipal budgets and providing essential community services. By de-funding Ontario municipalities through cancellation of the hugely successful and mutually beneficial Slots At Racing business partnership, the towns and cities are left in the lurch. The OLG have no plans to replace this revenue next March, so in addition to increasing the Ontario deficit by $1.1 billion in 2013, the Liberal government is also taking $80 million out of the budgets of communities across the province.

The horse world was shocked and alarmed to hear of the sudden and unprecedented closure of the slots facilities at Fort Erie, Windsor and Sarnia (Hiawatha). The workers received 30-day notices and a month later the buildings were closed, even though OLG is still paying the tracks an amount equivalent to their slots revenues for another year! ALL of the remaining SAR facilities are scheduled to close in March, 2013.


OHRIA report and response from Burgess family

The Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association (OHRIA) responded a few months later with a detailed response that many in the harness racing world felt failed to address the actual problem and therefore offered flawed solutions. My own major problem with the OHRIA is that it essentially asks for an annual subsidy, when mutually beneficial business partnership agreements have been empirically proven to offer a much sounder economic base. Subsidies can be changed or even pulled at any time, and we have tremendous resources to offer both the provincial slots industry, and the coming sports book betting market. The B tracks being sacrificed on the big city altar (due to backroom deals with Vegas mega-corporations) have contributed tens of millions of dollars annually to provincial coffers and yet the OHRIA proposal abandons them, which is unfair to the tracks, the horse people and is detrimental to Ontario taxpayers.

The Burgess Report, which came out in response to the OHRIA paper, is more representative of sentiment in the harness racing camp. The proposal by the son-father combo of Blair and Robert Burgess accurately states that an equitable deal must involve some allocation of slot machine revenues at the tracks. The current Ontario model is being copied with great success in new York, Pennsylvania and other states and the model is not going away, especially not with the sports book coming. Many sports bettors already visit racetracks, and for the rest, if they had an option to utilize a sports book at their local track and/or a Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) or Canadian Gaming Corp (CGC) operated website, they'd use both.

Returning to the destruction and over-commercialization of Ontario Place that appears to be well underway, things were not always so crass down there. Throughout the 1970s and the 1980s the wonderfully egalitarian Ontario Place Forum was host to summer after summer of legendary, inspired concerts. Chuck Berry, Teenage Head, Neville Brothers, Bruce Cockburn; it was a place of magical musical moments, and the corporate atmosphere of the Molson Amphitheater rarely comes close to the ambience that was offered by the Forum. If sanity returns and the park re-opens, one way to bring back some of the fun would be to have several concerts per week at Echo Beach that were included with park admission.

First, the closure of Ontario Place was announced, and justified by an array of false, misleading and outdated statistics (see Ã’ntario Place Wasn`t Dying, by Bob Hepburn, Toronto Star, 09AUG). This manipulated data was used to make a case that Ontario Place was foundering and on its last legs, when in fact attendance had risen almost 90% in 2011, with renovations and modernizations (including an expansion of the water park for kids) setting the stage for further increases in attendance and revenue in 2012. A brand new water slide has never had a child slide down it, and the thousands of urban families whose children previously bought Summer Fun passes were now left without a major recreational facility, as were tourists visiting Toronto. The closing of Ontario Place is an epic embarrassment created by a pack of lies.

From Autumn 2010 through late 2011, Ontario Place was being revitalized. Over $10,000,000 in provincial capital funds were spent on the property during this 12-month period. Among areas being refurbished:

- The children's water park Soak City added a new water slide, a spa pool and over 100 metres of new beach and walkways. None of this has yet to be enjoyed by the public who paid for it.

- A new ecology, conservation and animal care exhibit called Eco-Learning Centre, which attracted 300,000 visitors in its first year of operation.

- The world`s first Imax Theatre, Ontario Place Cinesphere, was restored and upgraded with a new digital projector plus a new sound system, seating, concession areas and interiors.

On February 1, 2012, the Government announced closure of the public areas of the park, for redevelopment scheduled to be completed in 2017. Yet nobody had or has agreed on what is to be built, and to add insult to injury, three of Toronto`s top architectural firms have submitted beautiful and leading edge plans (I work in the industry and have viewed one proposal) to expand and redevelop the park as a world-class community, family and tourism facility, and these have all been kept secret and unreleased by the Liberal government. Shockingly, in recent weeks the Liberals have announced plans to build CONDOS on the west island of this PUBLIC PARKLAND!

Returning to the origins of the attack on horse racing, let`s take a step back a few years and examine some of the problems OLG has had with its casinos in Niagara Falls (they opened a second one and forgot to close the first one, leading to huge overhead), and Windsor (they chose such an unstable partner that they were forced to lend Caesars $170 million to upgrade the facility), which will provide historical context for understanding why Fort Erie, Windsor and Sarnia were first targeted by the OLG and their Ontario Government in their unprecedented attack on Ontario`s world-leading harness racing industry. Fort Erie and Windsor were closed to cover up casino mismanagement and a foolhardy attempt to lower losses in Niagara and Windsor, while Sarnia was closed because OLG needed to boost their Point Edward Casino (which was being outperformed by the slots at Hiawatha Racetrack) numbers and Sarnia also has a mayor (Mike Bradley) that was willing to organize Ontario mayors last year and challenge the OLG when they tried to claw back a portion of the 5% that municipalities currently receive from Slots At Racing.

The OLG wants to cancel the SAR program AND re-allocate the money, which is technically impossible because if the program doesn't exist in the future, then there is no money to re-allocate. The OLG imagines that their new partners will somehow be more beneficial to Ontario, so let's examine who they want to do business with. The slots are currently hosted by the primarily not-for-profit Ontario horse racing industry and this business deal provides over $1 billion per annum to Ontario, as the province gets a 75% cut of all profits. The new plan involves partnering with Tanenbaum's bingo parlours (Boardwalk Gaming, which will take 47% versus racetracks and horsepeople share which is 20% total), and reduces the province's take from 75% down to 20-25%. Also, do we really want slot machines in residential neighborhood bingo parlours, after being snuck in under the guise of bingo hall Trojan horses?

The province is also being courted by giant USA casino companies, who have already told the OLG they cannot be expected to operate on the measly 20% that tracks and horsemen get, and they are looking for at least half the pie. Instead of paying 20% of net profits back into the Ontario economy via 17 racetracks and 60,000 horsemen, the OLG will pay 50% or more of profits to the likes of MGM Resorts, Caesar's (troubled, debt-burdened operator of Windsor Casino) and Sands (CEO Shelley Adelson of Las Vegas Sands is anti-union and the biggest financial supporter of Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney; Sands and Adelson are also under investigation for bribing government officials in China), while Ontario rural communities will become ghost towns.


Poverty, addiction, foreclosures on the way

All that money leaving Ontario for Vegas means the end of the multiplier effect. While it is true that racetracks and horsemen receive $300 million annually from the agreement, that money is spent in Ontario, generating over $200 million of income tax, sales tax and other economic benefits to the province, in addition to the $1.1 billion horsemen provide directly to the provincial treasury each year via SAR. If Ontario chooses centralized, foreign-owned mega-casinos rather than continuing a mutually beneficial business agreement, the pain will be felt by more than just Liberals running for re-election. Poverty, addiction, foreclosures and higher social and medical costs will be the result of such a near-sighted and uneconomic strategy.

It is important to understand the closings of Ontario Place and the SAR program in the context of pending federal legislation that will allow the operation of sports betting books in Canada. Vegas is spending big money to get in on this action and if they are successful, their inclusion will mean Ontarians lose tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in annual revenue. Every year, several billion dollars that should be going to Ontario's treasury and to the economies of cities and townships across the province will instead go to Las Vegas accountants, lawyers, shareholders and corporate executives. The financial resources that now go toward making our province functional and enjoyable are proposed by the OLG and the Ontario Liberals to go to paying the executive salaries, interest charges and dividends of a few large US-based corporations. Transitioning from a well-functioning and equitable province-wide system to a few giant casinos operated by American companies will be nothing less than the sellout of small town and rural Ontario, and Ontarians will pay the price for generations.

Ontario horse racing tracks such as Woodbine, Mohawk, Georgian Downs, Fort Erie, Windsor, Flamboro, Hiawatha, Rideau Carleton and Western Fair are all ideal locations for a sports book operation, in addition to Niagara Falls and the proposed Metro Convention Centre casino in downtown Toronto. This would appear obvious to most Ontario horsemen and gamblers, yet the confluence of the sudden closure of Ontario Place and the cancellation of the hugely successful SAR partnership (rivaled only by the LCBO as a major contributor to Ontario`s treasury) would make one wonder if Vegas money is already influencing OLG bureaucrats the public counts on to provide unbiased advice to the Government of Ontario.

The OLG has proven they can lose money operating casinos, however sports book betting, if properly diversified across the province, has the incredible potential of returning money to Ontario that currently goes to offshore websites like Betfair.com and Bodog.com. In this scenario, if even a portion of the online gambling from Ontario that is already taking place is re-directed to websites that provide a small percentage (eg 0.5%) to preserve racetracks, then that money will re-circulate again and again within our province. In addition to operating physical sports books at their tracks, WEG (Woodbine, Mohawk, Fort Erie) and CGC (Georgian Downs, Flamboro) could each build and operate an online sports book that also contributes to the B tracks. If slots are restored and extended at Ontario racetracks, and physical and web-based sports books are added into the mix, the Ontario horse racing industry will soon be able to offer upwards of $3 billion per year to Ontario's treasury, up from the $1.1 billion Ontario horse people currently provide annually.

The sudden closures of both Ontario Place and the Slots At Racing program indicate heavy lobbying by Vegas interests ahead of the legalization of a sports book in Canada. The Slots At Racing partnership between Ontario horsemen and the OLG has been a huge success for the people of Ontario, providing over $10 billion to the Ontario Treasury during the past decade, with the remainder of funds generated being re-invested in Ontario communities and the agricultural sector. Hundreds of millions in income taxes and sales taxes are paid by the 60,000+ employed full or part-time in Ontario horse racing, and about half of these jobs are at risk because of current government plans, which would likely see closures (or severely reduced race dates) of racetracks such as Fort Erie, Windsor, Sarnia, Sudbury, Dresden, Hanover, Grand River, Woodstock, Qunite and Kawartha Downs.

In 2006 and 2007 the OLG brought in new management to overcome the insider lottery wins scandal, and after those folks ran up big expense accounts in 2007 and 2008, another management shakeup took place in 2009. Throughout all of the troubles at the OLG, the Slots At Racing partnership has provided the largest revenue streams in the most consistent, trouble-free manner. The story reminds one of when the CBC canceled their number one rated show, Don Messer`s Jubilee (live from PEI). At the time it was the network`s most profitable and most popular show, but other CBC producers grew tired of explaining why they could not produce such numbers with a similar $25,000 per program budget. The CBC killed off a golden goose to make their other shows look better, and the OLG is attempting to kill of Slots At Racing as a way to cover up its casino incompetence and pave the way for Vegas-controlled gambling in Ontario.

Dale Lastman (Larry Tanenbaum's lawyer) was appointed to the OLG Board of Directors in 2010, and less than two years later, the SAR agreement that pays out 10% to mostly not-for-profit racetracks and 10% to Ontario horsemen (via race purses) was being canceled in favour of a new agreement that pays Tanenbaum's Boardwalk Gaming (a bingo hall company back-dooring its way into slots) 47%, vastly reducing the share for the Ontario treasury. Coincidence, or more evidence of a corporate takeover of our province?

There is a serious risk of the big players in Ontario's horse racing industry striking separate deals with the OLG and essentially hanging the smaller tracks out to dry. This strategy (see the OHRIA Report) has the industry begging for a $200 million annual handout while also accepting track closures across the province. What can be done to prevent this disastrous outcome? Here's the existing arrangement:

Existing arrangement:

2012 – 75% Province / 20% Track (10%) and Horsepeople (10%) / 5% Local Municipality


Ontario and the horse industry must agree in coming weeks to do one of two things:

A) Agree to a two-year extension of the existing Slots At Racing partnership. This will allow time for cooler heads to prevail, and provide ample opportunities for the racing industry, the local municipalities and the provincial government to come to mutually acceptable terms on a new deal.

OR

B) Replace the existing structure with a 10-year agreement designed to shift more of the slots dollars generated into the provincial treasury and into local municipal budgets (increasing them to 7-8% from current 5%), while also providing a small percentage to racetracks and horsemen for agreeing to host and operate sports betting books at racetracks.

Giving up a billion plus a year guaranteed in exchange for a few bingo halls and a waterfront casino dream was never the real story of the OLG / Ontario Government announcements, as the pending arrival of the sports betting book casts a shadow over all their excuses and deceitful plans to “modernize” (read “sell out to Americans”) the provincial gambling industry. There is zero chance that OLG will give up its $700 million per year from Woodbine Entertainment Group, so you know Woodbine and Mohawk slots are safe. OLG would also like to strike a deal with Canadian Gaming Corp, so Georgian Downs and Flamboro will escape the chopping block. The question now is, will horsemen from the big tracks support the B tracks that feed into the system, and will they protect Ontario taxpayers and the tourism industry by not letting the SAR program end without at least a two-year extension to explore alternatives that would save the regional, more rural tracks?

Ontario is the leading Standardbred horse racing market on Earth, and the overall horse racing industry employment would continue growing if not for government interference, deception and the illegal, premature ending of a business partnership agreement that the Government was obligated to review and report on every year, which it did not do. As recently as 2010 both the OLG and the Ontario Liberals were praising SAR as the model public-private partnership that it is.

If we build on the existing Slots At Racetracks agreement by extending it and expanding it, provincial government revenues can rise to over $1.5 billion per year (current rate is $1.1 billion annually from us) from our partnership, even before any sports book revenue is added, and also while increasing the existing 5% rate for local municipalities to the 7 to 8% range. By reinforcing our world-leading position in Standardbred racing and world-class, highly prominent status in Thoroughbred and Quarterhorse racing, the net result will be growth in horse racing industry jobs plus more revenues for local tourism, municipalities and the provincial treasury.

Whether we achieve a two-year extension to the current SAR deal or sign a new ten-year agreement, something needs to be done to prevent the devastation that closing many racetracks will wrought, as tens of thousands of jobs and dozens of communities are at risk.

As things stand, the OLG is out of control and they are attempting to sacrifice rural and small town Ontario to cover up their massive casino mismanagement. Unfortunately, the provincial Liberals have bought into this madness, and though the Ontario Government is hanging by a thread, so we are suggesting, as a first step, they announce a two-year extension to the current deal as a sane stopgap until longer term agreements can be entered into.

Their current plan involves shutting down efficient, lucrative, made-in-Ontario solutions to bolster OLG's money-losing and unwanted foreign-owned casinos and bingo hall dreams, and that will not go over well with voters. It is a preventable train wreck that can be avoided if clear-thinking taxpayers in Ontario revolt and put a stop to the OLG's muddled thinking and misguided proposals.

Please call, write or email your local MPP and ask that Ontario's horse farms, historic racetracks and rural tourism industry be preserved via an extension of SAR. The Slots At Racetracks program provides over $1.1 billion per year to our provincial treasury, and with an annual deficit now exceeding $14 billion, Ontario cannot afford to increase the deficit further by prematurely ending the highly rewarding and widely beneficial SAR joint venture.

Joe Trainor is a former Standardbred horse owner and is the Publisher of Horses and Hockey Blog.






















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