B.C. government to stop sharing slots revenue with horse racing industry

Horse breeders in B.C. are worrying the sport of horse racing may be coming to an end in the province, after the government told the industry it would stop sharing revenue from slot machines at two racetrack-adjacent casinos next year.

In a letter dated Nov. 25, Solicitor General Nina Krieger told horse racing industry representatives that a share of the slots revenue from Vancouver's Hastings Casino and Surrey's Elements Casino would no longer be provided.

Both casinos are next to race courses — the former at Hastings Racecourse and the latter at the recently shuttered Fraser Downs course in Surrey, which was closed by the city earlier this year for redevelopment.

The province says the move to cut funding comes after a review of the industry showed it wasn't sustainable without "significant additional government spending," which the province couldn't guarantee while facing a record deficit.

Gary Johnson, the chair of Thoroughbred Racing B.C., said industry representatives were rendered speechless when Krieger broke the news to them in a virtual meeting last week.

"I sat there for a couple seconds, realized that nobody else was going to speak," he said.

"And so I said, 'Minister, thank you for being so blunt,'" he said. "I don't think there's anything more that we can say. We need to talk to our [representatives] about this, because it's absolutely gut-wrenching."

Johnson estimated the move will cost the industry around $8 million. He provided the province's letter to the industry to CBC News, which says the revenue stream will stop as of Jan. 31, 2026.

He said Thoroughbred Racing B.C. — whose breeders have been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic and ballooning expenses — was already running a deficit.

The industry body