May 2021 Manitoba Harness Update

 

Now that we are less than 5 weeks away from opening day, I find myself pondering the expectations of this summer and how it could affect the long-term success of the Manitoba Harness Racing program. With the ongoing pandemic still controlling our day-to-day and the uncertainty of every aspect of life, this raises some very important questions. How is harness racing being perceived within the province and will it change once the track in Winnipeg is open? Can a small grassroots circuit survive a post pandemic world? Can Manitoba become a home to harness racing with national wide recognition? I’m sure I will find out the answers to these questions in due time, but they are still very important to those running the Manitoba Standardbred Racing Industry. In my short time of working and focusing my time on covering Manitoba Harness, I have thought that those at the top have the best intentions at growing the program here. President Trevor Williams and Vice-President Mike Williams have both been pushing for growth and innovation here at home. Now with online streaming and wagering provided through HPIbet.com, it has allowed fans across the country to access our product. After having some personal conversations with a colleague of mine, the hope is to have a bigger crew will provide a more updated photo finish system this upcoming summer. As well, with the eventual new track coming to Winnipeg, it could invite the whole city to watch and participate in the sport. But what else can be done to help improve the viewership and handle to the circuit and in-turn, hopefully grow the breeding program and help the Manitoba based stables? To get to that answer, we must first decide on which route is the best way to go. There is the chicken and egg dilemma, where it is hard to decide what is best? Do you start with bigger purses to get more horses and horsemen and then hope it grows viewership and wagering or do you focus on growing viewership and handle first, which then should grow purses? I come from the side of the gambler so I think growing interest in viewership would be the best way to go. But that is hard to convince those who control said decisions because they come from the other side which focuses more on purses and horse performances. To try to balance this is no easy feat but not impossible for those who want to grow the sport.

“I hope we can hit the same handles we had last year,” Trevor told me over the phone. “We’re hoping to expand into the U.S. and get our feed onto their sites. We already are available coast-to-coast in Canada on HPIbet.” The hope to grow Manitoba Harness Racing to the out-of-province and even out-of-country seems to be one of the main focuses going into 2021 season. “We want to get our product out to as many people as we can,” Trevor continued. They are not only growing the regions picking up the feed but are adapting to those crowds by changing the post time to 3:00 p.m. which is another step towards achieving a larger market. “We did an internal study and got advice from HPIbet. We had two choices, either go at a high-volume time and hopefully those wagering on bigger tracks throw something our way, or we go during a slow time and try to be the only thing on. However, most of the horsemen have day jobs so during the week isn’t an option. Saturday is the best choice.” Trevor was firm in the choice about sticking to Saturday in the hopes that Miami Fair could see some of the action at a high-volume Saturday of racing. Mike agreed that 3:00 p.m. would “get more action” than the previous post time.

But not only expanding into the U.S. is on both Williams’ minds as they also have plans to increase interest right here at home as well. “The Winnipeg track is coming along faster than planned. We should be out testing it this year but because of the Saskatoon racing we won’t have anything official going on.” Trevor alludes to the Saskatoon meet that is set to go September 11 until October 10. “We will have racing both Saturday and Sunday for five weeks in Saskatoon. We provide the horses, and they will provide the track operations.” Mike as well was very “optimistic” about Saskatoon and said “Covid pending, Saskatoon is happening.” Two enormous steps are growing the product here at home coupled with the plans to expand into the U.S. market.  Everything seems to be heading into a positive direction for the industry in Manitoba. The potential of no or limited crowds being allowed on the grounds isn’t slowing anything down. There is a schooler session on June 5^th and qualifiers set to go June 12^th in preparation for the June 26^th opening day. Miami will then host racing for the next nine Saturdays until the end of August before the move to Saskatoon in September. All the action can be seen on the Manitoba Harness YouTube channel and can be wagered on HPIbet.com.  

The long-term success of the circuit might not completely hinge on this summer, but it still has a major impact on how things will continue forward. Mike enthusiastically added “the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.” Growing the local interest and widening the online presence are both number one priority and the Manitoba Harness Circuit seems to be doing just that. With other regions losing interest in their tracks and causing permanent shutdowns, Manitoba is slowly trucking along. When I asked Mike if he’s excited for this summer, he just answered “totally!” Many people last summer never knew Manitoba had harness racing, but I feel confident in saying you will continue to hear about us for a long time. We are not going anywhere!