Dear Editor:
I am writing this letter as a concerned harness racing driver here in Saskatchewan. The Harness racing Industry is very vibrant for the City of Yorkton, the return back into the community is over whelmed where horsemen spend their dollars on feed, hay, bedding, also on lodging, groceries and more. The $200,000.00 the horsemen need to race will only put five times the money back into Yorkton, a win for everyone.
It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. I asked Mr. Greg Ottenbreit MLA for Yorkton and the rest of the Saskatchewan Party to reconsider what they have done to the Harness Racing Industry by not collecting the tax on horse racing wagers and letting Marquis Downs (Prairie Land Park) in Saskatoon have all the money. Do people in Saskatchewan only wager on Thoroughbreds or do they wager on harness racing as well through teletheatre wagers. I have been to teletheatres here in Saskatchewan and you can wager on both breeds, so if the money comes from both breeds, then you would think it should be split to both breeds.
So why would the government do such a thing, if they never gave the tax away they would still have something to split. I call this unfair to the harness horse owners, trainers, drivers and the government shouldn't be picking winners and losers, they should be doing what is right for the whole industry of Horse Racing not one breed over another.
Shawn Worthen
Yorkton, SK.
