Québec Harness Racing in Dire Straits

[Zman179]

Québec harness racing, mismanaged by SONACC for quite a while, is about to go into the toilet with a vast reduction of racing dates.

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/news/iss0304/quebecraces0301.html

What this means is that, depending on the month, Québec, Trois Rivières and Aylmer will now only race one time a week and Montréal will race only twice a week.

Zman (Quel désastre)

[Figman]

Don't worry...there's a "white knight" a ridin' into town!
http://tinyurl.com/37nxh

[Zaf]

What a joke, they have VLT's (Slots) in these places and they can't cut it. Never heard that one before. Tabarnac.

ZAFONIC

[Zman179]

Well, yes they have VLT's and at the same time, they don't.
Each track is limited to 100 VLT's which esentially amounts to not a whole heck of a lot.

What about the fact that SONACC has mismanaged the entire Québec racing industry straight into the ground. Recently, they have:

• Switched the Trois Rivières cards from Tuesday evenings to Saturday afternoons running a 10 & 10 format with Aylmer...which has resulted in a drop in handle at TR.

• Began Sunday afternoon cards at Aylmer, which struggle to handle $25,000 a card while running at the same time in a 10 & 10 format with Hippodrome de Montréal.

• Drastically reduced racing dates at the Québec and Montréal tracks.

Let alone the fact that SONACC has not made an attempt to even simulcast it's own races out to other tracks, which is denying horsemen extra purse money. Did you know that only ONE American track (Plainridge) simulcasts harness races from "La Belle Province" on a regular basis?

Bottom line, SONACC MUST GO. And Magna, while it has screwed up quite a bit in the past, can only help Québec racing.

Zman <- prefers merde over tabernac

[Zaf]

Hey mon chum Z-man,

Tu connais tres bien le circuit Quebec.

For a guy from NY you know tons about the Quebec Harness Circuit. Crisse de tabarnak !

ZAFONIC

[Zman179]

Oui, j'en connais. Je suis des courses du cheval depuis deux ans quand j'ai démarrée mes études de la langue française.

Of course, I still screw up here and there as I'm still learning the language (which is not easy to do when everybody around you speaks English). But I work hard at it. But oh man, the "joual" is a killer to understand.

In the meantime, Québec harness racing has become a saga within itself. My wife has her soap operas, and I have this. I really want to see it succeed and maybe Magna is the one to get it back on it's feet. It sure would be nice to see Québec racing over the internet for a change instead of having to ride a Greyhound bus for 8 hours twice a year to partake in it. Funny, I've played Hippodrome de Québec five times, and all five times I've paid for my vacation with the winnings from a single card. Almost like a tirelire (piggybank).

Zman (if this junk keeps up, Yonkers might be renamed Hippodrome de Québec Sud/South)

[Zaf]

Z-man,

Tu a raison, SONACC must go !

They really screwed things up. Magna may be Quebec's best chance to suceed. This is one situation where Magna may actually be welcome.

Good to jaser avec vous !

ZAFONIC