Sandown Might Have Options Other Than Slot Machines

With the decision not to allow slot machines at Sandown Park, owners said that the park would not be able to survive without them. They had asked the gaming commission to allow the slot machines as a way to supplement the money that was coming into the park from harness racing. Without the slot machine revenue, the park said it could not afford to keep running as it could not afford the purses needed to continue racing.

However, the B.C. Standardbred Association and the Standardbred Breeders’ Society have asked the gaming enforcement commission to set up a meeting with Sandown’s owners, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation. David Aldred, Standardbred Association’s Executive Director said that he thinks the two sides should be able to come to a meeting next month. He also said, "The decision [to close the park] took the legs out from under the people in the racing industry. We are fighting to keep Sandown alive. It may be a smaller cog, but it is a very important one."

He is, of course, referring to the Great Canadian announcement that it would not proceed with an application to the North Saanich council to rezone and redevelop the racetrack (including adding slot machines), instead opting to close the park down for the summer – many were shocked. Their VP Howard Blank has since said that they will meet with the association, but they still don’t see the company running a summer schedule without slot machines. "We gave notice the cost to operate racing is prohibitive for us within the model we are currently operating under," Blank said. He says that the company was planning on surviving with those slot machines, and it is not cost effective for them to keep the track open the way it is.

Back to Monthly Archive // Main Slot Machine News Index