Marquis Downs cancels 2021 racing season

Racehorses in Saskatchewan are staying in the stalls for at least one more year.

On Thursday, Saskatoon’s Prairieland Park cancelled the summer horse racing season at Marquis Downs.

“We do know this does effectively end horse racing in the province,” marketing manager Kristy Rempel said.

Last year, the racing season was cancelled as Prairieland scrambled to react to the onset of COVID-19.

This year, economics relating to a year of lost business because of COVID-19 forced Prairieland into another difficult decision.

“We need fans in the stands in order to run. We also need jockeys in order to run,” Rempel said. “With the closures we’re seeing, and the restrictions continuing, we don’t believe that those things are going to be ended anytime soon, so we made a decision to not go forward with the year.”

Horse racing advocates were calling for outside investment and online betting capabilities for added revenue to help keep the season alive for its usual run on Friday and Saturday evenings in June, July and August.

“We did look into those things a couple of years ago, but right now, with the losses we’re projecting and the entire corporation down roughly 90 per cent, we don’t see that as infrastructure upgrades we’re going to do right away,” Rempel said.

Prairieland Park is hoping certain restrictions can be lifted throughout the year so other events like The Ex or Folkfest could run in some capacity, but until then, Rempel said Prairieland’s focus is on doing its part to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We really do feel for the horsemen — we understand this is not the news they wanted to hear — but these restrictions have taken their toll on more than just the horse racing industry,” she said.

“Horse racing is one part of what Prairieland Park does.”

Many jockeys taking part in Marquis Downs’ racing season are international travellers — roughly 70 per cent of them come from Caribbean nations — meaning quarantine restrictions, visa applications and other variables made it too difficult to organize a season.

“That process takes typically a couple of months, and then we have to find (jockeys) spaces to live while they’re here,” Rempel said of issues at the border.

“We know that by the time June comes around, we won’t have the available roster of jockeys.”