Horse racing continues throughout the winter at a few Ontario tracks even with our extreme weather conditions. Some feel we should shut down racing for the cold weather and to follow a seasonal schedule. Others argue that racing in winter is part of our geography saying that we need to continue racing throughout the winter to keep a continuation going.

What we're seeing in KD is the WORST of both sides. We have winter races scheduled but the track is completely unprepared for the weather conditions. Last Friday, the track was not touched once before the qualifiers went to post. There was snow drifting across the track on one turn, solid stretches of ice on the other.

I don't know anything about track maintenence so am not suggesting HOW best to prepare a surface for winter racing BUT i am saying "doing absolutely nothing" is bad for the horses and bad for the wagering public.

Acknowledging the untouched surface, the ORC judges allowed 6 seconds of varience to all performers. My 1:59 trotter went her mile in 2:13. How can anyone wager on horses coming off such ridiculous conditions ?

Some scratched refusing to perform on such substandard track conditions. Others endured as we needed to get our horses qualified and raced to pay some bills.

What can we do to ensure that the track get maintained to a suitable and safe racing surface ?

PS. i personnally saw 2 horses slip and fall on the icy turn. Both got up with minor scrapes- nothing serious but it could have been.