The local horse racing season at Leamington Raceway has come to an end.
Lakeshore Horse Racing Association Executive Member Tom Bain says the 2019 season was exceptional and unbelievable.
"Our betting was way up and our attendance was way up," says Bain. "In fact betting was up 22% over last year and I believe the next closest track to us was five percent increase."
Bain hopes the successful season means a bright future for local horse racing.
"We're heading off to Toronto shortly to discuss what's going on for the future," says Bain. "We have one year left in our contract and there are definitely concerns of what's going to happen to our future."
Bain tells AM800 News they are going to present their case at the meeting in Toronto.
"That's the information we're going to go armed with and say how can you even think about shutting us down when we're creating all these jobs locally, over 2000 jobs in the area and we're so successful," says Bain.
Photo courtesy of @Lakeshoretrack
The 13-race season started on August 4th and wrapped up on October 27th.
Bain says the 2020 race season will also include 13-race dates and is the last year of the association's current contract with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.