Having split North America into two distinct countries – United States and Canada – the review of Canadian racetracks will be undertaken first on a province by province basis. This article deals with the final Maritime province – Nova Scotia and Newfoundland which together with the Maritime provinces makes up the region of Atlantic provinces.
NOVA SCOTIA
The Halifax Driving Club commenced harness racing in 1891.
Today there are three live harness racing venues in Nova Scotia – being Inverness, Northside Downs (both on Cape Breton Island, part of Nova Scotia) and Truro. The Department of Agriculture, Nova Scotia government provides a $1 million contribution towards purses to be divided three raceways. The split is roughly 45% to Truro ($315,000), 35% to Northside ($245,000) and 20% to Inverness ($140,000). The amounts in brackets are the approximate dollars received by each which go toward stakes after deductions by the harness racing commission.
Inverness Raceway –
The half mile Inverness raceway commenced live racing in 1926, The facility is owned by the diocese of Antigonish, leased for 100 years by the operators, a non‐profit organization where everything goes back to the Horsemen and run by a board of executives. The track proved popular pulling in large crowds of enthusiastic spectators.
Operating twice weekly between May and October (Sunday afternoons May – October; Wednesday evenings throughout July and August) its offers approximately thirty five meetings annually with a couple of hundred simulcast race meetings on site and remotely at locations throughout Cape Breton.
Northside Downs –
The half-mile oval at the Cape Breton County Exhibition Grounds on Regent Street in North Sydney is home to Northside Downs. Harness racing has a long and storied history on the Northside beginning with the tracks official opening on Dominion Day (now Canada Day) 1 July 1898. Originally referred to as the North Sydney Trotting Park for racing fans who travelled there from all across Cape Breton.
Charlie Ballard owned the track from 1930-1950 and it was said that he bequeathed the track to the farmers for the exhibition with the understanding it would always be a racetrack. Another story suggested he sold it for a dollar thereby it being retained as a racetrack. During the 1930’s and 1940’s Northside’s popularity was at its height on the Maritime circuit regularly drawing crowds of 5,000 before racing moved to the Cape Breton Sports Centre in Sydney in the mid 1940’s (refer to Tartan Downs later). The Northside Downs track experienced many ups and downs, operating at intervals until 1957 and racing until the last races were held there on 9 September 1989.
Whilst the majority of races moved to the Sydney track (Cape Breton), Northside Downs held matinees from time to time with equipment, judges, starting gates and horses brought to North Sydney from around the municipality. At its peak the first week of September was considered “Exhibition Week” with harness racing taking place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. Stores closed in North Sydney on Wednesday afternoons for a half holiday. Former Mayor Charlie Thompson (1944-54) was the starter with music from the local pipe band being a common site during earlier race days.
The venue generally served as a training track for decades until being reopened for full time racing when Tartan Downs closed in May 2006. Initially the Cape Breton Horsemen’s Association travelled to Inverness Raceway for live racing. Horsemen and officials from Northside Downs eventually reached a five-year contract bringing harness racing back to the track for the first time since 1989 with the reopening of Northside Downs in the summer of 2007.
The Northside Downs facility owned and operated by the Cape Breton Federation of Agriculture holds approximately thirty meetings per season with simulcasting also presented there and remote locations in Sydney and New Waterford. Major seasonal races are the Atlantic Sires Stakes races for two and three year old colts and fillies held in August and September.
In July 2018, Northside Downs celebrated one hundred and twenty years of racing at their North Sydney venue.
Tartan Downs –
The raceway opened in 1945 as a venue for harness and horseracing operating until 2006 when the track shut down. A history of Tartan Downs shows :
- earlier the Sydney Trotting Park tracks first public race meeting held on 13 July 1899 opening on the then outskirts of Sydney. By 1930’s popularity rivalled boxing in the number of people involved. Due to fading interest and the booming North Sydney (Northside Downs) track, racing halted in Sydney from 1938-44
- Tartan Downs resurfaced in 1945 with the old Trotting Park being converted into a modern sports facility — the Cape Breton Sports Centre. The idea for a new sports centre began in 1944 with a group of citizens and business people led by Gordon Elman, raising the $75,000 needed to finance the project by canvassing the local community
- By July 1945, the Cape Breton Sports Centre was near completion – forty brand new stables (20 winterized) were built to the left of the Prince Street entrance near a new paddock area where the drivers could exercise their mounts; new canopy grandstand seating area accommodating 2,400 was built with entry charge of an extra thirty five cents for seating; viewing from a large paddock area or along the rails
- Movable stand for the starter, judges, race officials and three microphone hook-ups were built, all painted in a splashy red and white pattern. Three ticket stands were designed, two for pedestrians and one for cars that could drive into the grounds huge one thousand vehicle parking lot at a cost of twenty five cents. A baseball diamond was built in the inner circle of the track
- Half-mile oval created by P.E.I. master turf builder Joe O’Brien, finished and tested by mid-July 1945. The track was built using slag material from the local steel and the infield is literally a burial ground for horses that died or had to be put down over the years
- Cape Breton Sports Centre opened on 1 August 1945, a day declared a civic holiday. War veterans walked or were driven to the Ashby baseball field at the new sports centre accompanied by three marching bands and greeted by an estimated 10,000 people. Upwards of 400 veterans were given illuminated scrolls by the mayor and council members. The harness racing card featured retired Royal Canadian Air Force Flight Lt. Pat Cadegan Jr., driving his own horse
- Renamed Tartan Downs Raceway in 1984 when a group headed by Halifax lawyer Victor Goldberg took over operations
- Tartan Downs went into receivership in the 1990s then being purchased by horse owner Jack MacNeil in 1995
- The raceway operated until 2006 shutting down in 2007 when no longer financially viable. Toronto-based Racino Royale Inc. had signed a purchase agreement in November 2006 to buy Tartan Downs from MacNeil but the deal fell through
- After frequent vandalism through several break-ins and intentionally set fires, the Tartan Downs grandstand was described by municipal staff as “deplorable and dilapidated”. Demolished in November 2012 due to a dangerous and unsightly premises order issued by the Cape Breton Regional Municipality
The track has been used for training purposes in recent years with approximately twenty five horses housed in barns on the track property.
The 24-acre (ten hectare) Tartan Downs racetrack property at 755 Upper Prince St, Sydney which was surrounded by residential and commercial properties was zoned for multiple uses including some manufacturing, retail, recreation and residential housing. Eventually sold in November 2019 to Cape Breton University (CBU) which had seen a massive increase in international student enrolment (pre Covid), planning to build a large residential and commercial development on the site. In May 2020 the university issued a request that the proposed development was needed. Naming an organisation called the Urban Neighbourhood Development Association as its partner in the project for the design of a new neighbourhood with more than 400 housing units, commercial and community space.
Sackville Downs –
Sackville Downs Raceway in Sackville, Nova Scotia provided harness racing from 1954 to 1985. The track operated by the Cruickshank family (B.C., John T., Jack) with meetings held at least twice weekly through the summer and on fall (autumn) holiday weekends on the half mile circuit.
B.C Cruikshank was a local businessman who owned and operated a funeral home while Captain John Cruikshank was a marine captain who operated a shipping company in both Sydney N.S. and Halifax N.S. Both Cruickshank’s had been involved in the racing industry and were very keen on opening a racetrack. Captain Cruickshank purchased a plot of roughly 250 acres in Lower Sackville for which B.C Cruickshank was able to provide the capital for the venture.
The Captain’s son Jack knew little about horse racing and travelled to other tracks to gain knowledge, ideas and processes for implementation at Sackville Downs. These included from an Ottawa track visit a method of making it so they could race in the rain and the winter. Crushed rock was placed under the dirt track to keep it from becoming muddy while from Yonkers in New York were the high standards of the restroom facilities, with attendants in charge of keeping the facilities cleaned at regular intervals. Night races were almost impossible with the old flood lights, modern tracks of the day had quartz lights which were implemented to improve night racing.
A tote board that lit up showing all the statistics for the races and information needed to place bets, together with a printing press and punch presses for the easy manufacture of betting tickets and race results were other improvements.
Ownership changed hands during the 1954 – 1985 period with the track closing in 1985 and being demolished soon after. The land on which the harness racing oval was located is now occupied by the Downsview Mall at the Beaver Bank Road. Commercial growth has shown a steady growth since 1982.
Truro Raceway –
The Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition Commission (NSPEC) own and operate the twenty six hectare site that hosts the largest annual provincial exhibition and is home to the half mile Truro Raceway. NSPEC Complex is Nova Scotia’s largest harness racing track and is one of the oldest horse racing facilities in Canada opening in 1865 with the first agricultural exhibition being held in Truro took place in 1876.
Featuring live harness racing most Friday evenings April – September and Sunday afternoons October – December and hosting simulcasting (live streams and wagering on leading North American tracks) in the trackside lounge every Thursday to Sunday and remotely in Bedford daily. The Grandstand features stadium seating, canteen, Trackside Lounge and the Top of the Turn Diner. The track boasts over two hundred horse stables and caters for racing with approximately fifty meetings per season.
In May 2020, the province announced stimulus spending for more than 200 projects that could be completed in the 2020-21 financial year to address the economic impacts of COVID-19 and the plan for recovery.
In July 2020, the Nova Scotia provincial government stipulated major improvements to the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition and Truro Raceway in Bible Hill, Colchester County. The upgrades are part of the province’s $230-million investment to improve infrastructure and help get the economy moving.
This specific $4.63million project includes an overhaul of the structural, electrical and ventilation systems in the C.A. Douglas Grandstand at Truro Raceway. Other buildings on the exhibition complex will also receive upgrades. The renovations were underway being expected to be completed by March 2021; however construction was still ongoing at the end of March 2022 with good progress being made but no completion date available.
The Village of Bible Hill lauded the investment announcement for capital renovations to the grandstand, welcoming the show of support for the provincially owned harness racing facility. News of the upgrades at Truro Raceway coincided with Atlantic Grand Circuit Week.
Agriculture Minister Keith Colwell stated “Our exhibitions and fairs are amazing and unique events that show off the best of rural living and our agricultural heritage. The improvements will rejuvenate the provincial exhibition site and make it a great place to hold events and see a race.”
Debbie Francis, President, Nova Scotia Harness Racing Industry Association advised that “The Nova Scotia Harness Racing Industry Association is excited to hear the announcement for the upgrades to the C.A. Douglas Grandstand at Truro Raceway. This is a positive investment for the harness racing industry, and we look forward to what other opportunities this could lead to.”
NEWFOUNDLAND
Newfoundland and Labrador is Canada’s easternmost province and together with the maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, they make up the region of the Atlantic provinces. St. John’s being the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
St. John’s Racing And Entertainment Centre is a multi-faceted business with a bar, lounge, indoor and outdoor special events facilities all on a picturesque waterfront property. Harness racing took place on a half mile Goulds racetrack in St John’s from the 1970’s until July 2016 when St John’s Racing and Entertainment decided to end live harness racing at their venue.
Next Article : Canada – British Columbia
Peter Craig
20 April 2022
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
