The change in Ontario’s betting rules that took place last spring has been widely seen as a liberalization, opening up betting opportunities that had not been available before. But if you were a keen follower of horse racing, the change actually overturned things in a way few people realized at the time. And since April 2022, Ontarians have not had the opportunity to bet online on racing at the sportsbooks that have opened in the province. There is, though, apparently some hope that this could change in the New Year, bringing Canadian races to providers such as Ladbrokes horse racing. The upshot of this could be a major shot in the arm for the industry in Canada.
It seems a little bizarre on the face of it that betting on horse races has been excluded from online sportsbooks up to this point. Racing is, after all, a sport, and locals can bet on football, tennis and hockey without issue. The difficulty of betting on horse racing mirrors the provision of sports betting in New York, where the first year of action has been an undoubted success, but has not allowed for sportsbooks to include racing. With the horse training industry in Canada depending so heavily on betting, horse racing’s inclusion in Ontario sportsbooks could make a huge difference. So what are the elements we need to look out for?
The people behind the forthcoming change
The idea for horse racing to be included in Ontarian sportsbooks is the brainchild of Woodbine Entertainment Group, which runs pari-mutuel betting in Canada and is by far the largest professional horse racing business in the country. They are working on a means to integrate their racing odds into the existing sportsbooks that currently operate in the province. This would allow Woodbine to offer odds on racing that takes place in Canada, and offer it to the entire Ontarian sports betting industry.