Town and driving club meet to discuss safety plan
Harness races scheduled for Connell Park Raceway in Woodstock on July 26 and Aug. 1 will not proceed as planned.
In an online post by Standardbred Canada on July 22, the incorporated non-profit that promotes harness racing in Canada, posted that officials with Harness Racing New Brunswick (HRNB) have been “instructed by the Town of Woodstock that the July 26 and August 1 race dates be rescheduled.”
Harness races were halted after a three-year-old died when he was struck by the starting gate attached to the pacing truck during the season opener at Connell Park Raceway on June 14. The death remains under investigation by the Woodstock Police Force.
On Wednesday, July 23, officials from the Town of Woodstock met with the Woodstock Driving Club, which operates the harness races at Connell Park Raceway.
“We met for an hour and reviewed (their submission),” Woodstock CAO Allan Walker told the River Valley Sun. “We have a special meeting of council today (Thursday, July 24), where we are discussing this and other things, but we are presenting those findings to council for the first time.”
The special meeting of the council is set for today (Thursday) at noon. The council meeting is expected to be a closed session and will only open if a motion is to be passed.
In a website post from Standardbred Canada, it was noted that Harness Racing New Brunswick had requested a special council meeting to “clearly show that all recommendations from the Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission (APHRC) safety review have been or will be completed in time for racing to resume July 26.”
The post went on to say that the “clerk of the town responded to the request and informed them that, after a discussion with their legal department,” and that the town would reach out to the organization by July 24.
“We are hopeful that our letter and supporting documentation from earlier today will convince the town council that we have done our part as requested by the APHRC in their safety recommendations. Friday night (August 1), Old Home Week racing is critical to the Woodstock Driving Club and HRNB,” said HRNB President Dr. Mitchell Downey in the Standardbred post.
The APHRC has rescheduled the Milton Downey Memorial to Aug. 30, while the organization’s annual Blood Money Stakes has yet to be rescheduled.
The post stated that the APHRC is also working with the Town of Woodstock to reschedule races that were cancelled on June 28 and July 5, to comply with the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency (CPMA) regulations. The CPMA is a special operating agency within Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada that regulates and supervises pari-mutuel betting on horse races in Canada.
More to come….
