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| Last updated at 9:35 AM on 21/11/09 |
How exactly does 'Red Shores' resonate? 
Sheridan's comments suggest government and the ALC are more concerned about casinos than harness racing.
If there is a general impression that both the provincial government and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation are more concerned about gambling casinos on P.E.I. than harness racing, it was confirmed this week by comments in the legislature by Wes Sheridan.
The provincial treasurer was trying to defend changing the name of the Charlottetown Driving Park to Red Shores 'something or other' because, he argued, the CDP name meant little to off-Island visitors.
Did Mr. Sheridan mean to say that the old name didn't effectively advertise that there is a gambling casino at the racetrack with slot machines and card tables? How does the name 'Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park' resonate more effectively with tourists than the 'Charlottetown Driving Park'?
One also wonders who participated in focus groups used to gauge the feeling of the general public about the name change. It'll be only a matter of time before the name will be shortened to 'Red Shores'.
Government and the horsemen gave the corporation free rein, so to speak, in operating the track and casino in an effort to make them economically viable. The track was losing money, so the corporation had to do something to try and turn things around. But did that give the corporation the right to rewrite a century and a half of harness racing history? The 'Kentucky of Canada' wasn't a nickname earned by VLTs, nor has the Gold Cup and Saucer Race, which has become one of the greatest harness spectacles in North America, depended on VLT revenue.
The lottery corporation's main concern is raising gambling revenue, so supporting a breeding and racing industry to achieve that goal may seem, to the corporation at least, to be a waste of time and money. Perhaps that's why harness racing fans, who may still like to watch the races, are being enticed more and more to lay down gambling dollars in the casino rather than at the pari-mutuel ticket window.
Mr. Sheridan said the new name is working because Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park is now making money, but what is he referring to - the casino, the racetrack, or a combination?
Mr. Sheridan was the one who announced late last summer that a new grandstand at Summerside Raceway didn't fit into the province's gambling strategy. That strategy amounted to little more than consolidating slightly fewer VLTs into fewer but larger facilities. The SRW decision was seized upon by federal Conservatives who gleefully rode the issue to victory in Egmont. In the end, the new grandstand was built, and the province had no choice but to go along with it. The federal election results in Egmont reflected what Islanders thought about the province's focus on glitzy casinos over harness history.
Meanwhile, the massive new casino in Moncton is nearing completion and one can safely assume that serious casino gamblers are more likely to go there. That means we will need the harness fans more than ever to help the CDP and SRW facilities survive.
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21/11/09
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