Canadian Sports Betting Bill Amended To Exempt Horse Racing From Fixed Odds Wagers

With a unanimous vote, the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on Thursday amended Private Member's Bill C-218 to offer protection to the horse racing industry in Canada. Under the new proposed legislation, fixed odds wagering on horse racing would not be permitted.

“This is great news for the horse racing industry and the tens of thousands of jobs it supports across Canada,” said Jim Lawson, CEO, Woodbine Entertainment. “On behalf of the industry, thank you to the Standing Committee for listening to our perspective and recognizing the need to protect horse racing from unintended consequences caused by the legalization of sports betting.”

PMB C-218 was introduced by MP Kevin Waugh to legalize Single-Event Sports Betting in Canada.  The horse racing industry supports the principle of the Bill but led a significant cross-party advocacy effort to ensure Committee members understood the unintended consequences to the industry if protections were not included. As part of those efforts, horse racing hall of fame jockey Sandy Hawley and representatives from the Central Ontario Standardbred Association, Horsemen's Benevolent Protective Association of Ontario, Racetracks of Canada, Quebec Jockey Club and Woodbine Entertainment appeared as witnesses over the past several weeks as the Standing Committee studied the proposed Bill.

The Bill will now proceed to Third Reading in the House and, if passed, head to the Senate for review.

“As the legislation process continues, our industry will remain active to ensure the protections remain in the Bill through the Senate process,” Lawson added. “We also recognize that with this potential emergence of sports betting in the near future, our industry will face increased competition in the legal wagering market and must pursue additional sources of revenue to further protect our industry.”

As an established leader and trusted Canadian organization in regulated single-event sports betting in Canada, Woodbine Entertainment will continue to advocate for an opportunity to participate in sports betting in a meaningful way.

“We look forward to continuing to engage with government and other stakeholders to offer our expertise in regulated sports wagering as Canada prepares for this new and emerging sector,” Lawson said.  ““The opportunity for us to offer our leadership in this sector has the potential for sports betting to be a very positive development for the horse racing industry across the country.”

In addition to its efforts in sports betting, Woodbine Entertainment will continue to advocate for the legalization of Historical Horse Racing on behalf of the industry.

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Woodbine Raising Minimum Weight For Jockeys To 118 Pounds

Woodbine Entertainment, in consultation with the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association of Ontario (HBPA), announced on Saturday that it will raise the minimum weight for jockeys to 118 pounds, effective August 6, 2020.

Top end weights will go to 125 pounds where applicable, other than handicap or stakes aces where assigned weights will remain at the discretion of the Racing Secretary.

The health and welfare of our jockeys was the driving factor for this decision, and the new base weight aligns with racing jurisdictions in Kentucky, Florida and New York.

This change will be reflected in Condition Book 4, effective Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020.

The new weight scales by condition for overnight races are listed below.

WOODBINE – SCALE OF WEIGHTS FOR 118 LB. MINIMUM (OVERNIGHTS) effective Aug. 6, 2020

Does not account for Fillies Sex Allowance 3 LBS

2 YEARS OLD MAIDENS
121 LBS. BASE WEIGHT BOTH SEXES
(Canadian Bred Allowance) -3 LBS.
(No claiming buy down)

2 YEARS OLD WINNERS
Does not account for Fillies Sex Allowance 3 LBS
123 LBS. BASE WEIGHT BOTH SEXES
(Canadian Bred Allowance) -3 LBS.
Non-Winners of a Race in 2 Months – 2 LBS.
(No claiming buy down)

3 YEARS OLD MAIDENS
Does not account for Fillies Sex Allowance 5 LBS (3LBS. after Sept 1)
121 LBS. BASE WEIGHT BOTH SEXES
(Canadian Bred Allowance) -3 LBS.
(No claiming buy down)

3 YEARS OLD WINNERS
Does not account for Fillies Sex Allowance 5 LBS (3LBS. after Sept 1)
123 LBS. BASE WEIGHT BOTH SEXES
(Canadian Bred Allowance) -3 LBS.
Non-Winners of a Race in 2 Months – 2 LBS.
(No claiming buy down)

3 YEARS OLD & UPWARD MAIDENS
Does not account for Fillies & Mares Sex Allowance 5 LBS. (3LBS. after Sept 1)
3 YEARS OLD 119 LBS. OLDER 124 LBS. (Apr-June)
3 YEARS OLD 120 LBS. OLDER 124 LBS. (July-Sept)
3 YEARS OLD 121 LBS. OLDER 124 LBS. (Oct-Dec)
(Claiming Buy Down – 1 LBS.) (APR-JUNE)
(Claiming Buy Down- 2 LBS.) (JULY-DEC)

3 YEARS OLD & UPWARDS WINNERS
Does not account for Fillies & Mares Sex Allowance 5 LBS. (3LBS. after Sept 1)
3 YEARS OLD 121 LBS. OLDER 125 LBS. (Apr-June)
3 YEARS OLD 122 LBS. OLDER 125 LBS. (July-Sept)
3 YEARS OLD 123 LBS. OLDER 125 LBS. (Oct-Dec)
Non-Winners of a Race in 2 Months– 2 LBS.
(Claiming Buy Down – 1 LBS.) (APR-JUNE)
(Claiming Buy Down- 2 LBS.) (JULY-DEC)

3 YEARS OLD & UPWARDS WINNERS
(NW1X, NW2 40/OS, NW3 40/OS)
Does not account for Fillies & Mares Sex Allowance 5 LBS. (3LBS. after Sept 1)
3 YEARS OLD 120 LBS. OLDER 124 LBS. (Apr-June)
3 YEARS OLD 121 LBS. OLDER 124 LBS. (July-Sept)
3 YEARS OLD 122 LBS. OLDER 124 LBS. (Oct-Dec)
Non-Winners of a Race in 2 Months– 2 LBS.

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