Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Ontario Please Open the Racetracks

Ontario remains locked down after another lockdown. This one is was 28 days, which was extended on January 23rd, and its on the heels of the previous lockdown, which was on the heels of the previous one. Infections are still high, worse than early last year, no matter what they seem to do. 

One thing that makes this lockdown a little different than some of the previous lockdowns is that harness racing people can't race their horses. The main track was closed on December 26th. 

Premier Ford has been rather refreshing, in my view, seeing as he is kind of a Trump Lite guy but hasn't acted like one. He is surprisingly very self-effacing in terms of this and has left all decision making to "experts". But damn, these experts don't seem to follow much experting when it comes to harness racing. From day one this sport has been one of the safest activities and businesses in terms of the lack of COVID spread. I feel safer in the paddock at Woodbine than I do at Costco. I'm sure most of you agree. 

This decision does not make much common sense; none that I can find anyway. And there's no sign of it abating. So, another industry - one that has been proven safe - is shuttered. Horses need to be fed, walked, cared for, bathed, shod and jogged. That takes money. And there is no money to race for, because there is no racing. 

About nine months ago a few of us shared a story about a woman who drove to a large coastal park to walk her dog. Her car was noticed by the police, it was tagged and towed and the K9 unit was called. After 45 minutes of extensive searching they found her and her dog playing fetch in the ocean with no one for miles around. They escorted her back and fined her $700. The joke at the time was when it takes a police trained canine 45 minutes to find you, you should not get a fine, but a social distancing gold medal. 

Most of us gave them a break for this rather comical episode. Things were new, there were rules that she was breaking; in general, we give them the benefit of the doubt. 

But it's February of 2021 now. We expect better. We expect them to make decisions based on fact, because we now have facts to lean on. If we do that, there's only one logical conclusion: Let these people race their horses. Let them make a living. 

Have a nice Tuesday everyone. 

1 comment:

Alpha Link said...

Here's Ford's Chief Medical Officer not realizing the camera and microphone are still doing their job. I personally do not think that "health" has anything to do with what we are experiencing, but will leave it at that for now. As she just reads a script without really looking at what she's saying - so does Ford. He also gets his marching orders from someone else.
https://youtu.be/i1r7kgrg3-c

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