Rideau Carleton Raceway

Rideau Carleton Raceway is a Canadian horse racing and gambling complex located at 4837 Albion Road in Ottawa, Ontario. The facility began operation in 1962 and specialises in Standardbred harness racing.

Aerial view of Rideau Carleton Raceway

In 2000, the venue introduced slot machines, under the authority of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) which were expected to draw annual revenue of $130 million.[1] The site includes a restaurant and hosts musical performances.[2]

Rideau Carleton is also the site of the Gloucester Fair (now the Capital Fair) since 1998.[3] The raceway provides facilities for numerous charitable fundraisers and hosts annual events for several embassies.[4]

The operations at the Raceway are currently run by Hard Rock, who were handed the keys September 12th, 2017. Hard Rock has 51% of the stock.

Harness Racing

The brainchild of James William Baskin, Rideau Carleton opened for racing on 1 September 1962. The racetrack was situated on a plot of about 300 acres on the outskirts of Ottawa in Gloucester Township, only two miles from Ottawa's airport. The facilities were developed by architect and building director D'Arcy Helmer, who had previously designed several hospitals and schools in the Ottawa Valley but who had never previously visited a racetrack. Helmer drew his main inspiration from Scioto Downs in Columbus, Ohio. The grandstand and clubhouse were completed at a cost of $841,000, while the track itself cost $750,000. The facilities also included 12 fireproof barns plus 96 tack rooms and a restaurant for the horsepeople.[5] Despite a successful opening, the racetrack was then plagued by bad weather, which contributed to the track going into receivership at the end of its first season.[6] Overcoming this rocky start, Rideau Carleton celebrate its fiftieth anniversary in 2012.[4]

The racetrack at Rideau Carleton is a five-eighths oval with a track speed rating[lower-alpha 1] of 1:57.4, about average for tracks of the same dimensions.[7] The track has 91 live race dates scheduled for 2017 – every Sunday evening except Christmas Eve plus Thursday evenings from April through October.[8] Along with the adjacent casino, it is open year-round as an off-track betting site and offers simulcast facilities for betting on Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing at other racetracks.

Most races at Rideau Carleton are for smaller purses of under $10,000. However, the track does feature several legs of the Ontario Sires Stakes program in August.[9] Until 2012, the track also hosted the Des Smith Classic. In the 2006 renewal, featuring several of the fastest pacers of the time, Lis Mara set a Canadian record on a ​5⁄8-mile track of 1:49.3.[10] The record was broken in the 2011 renewal by Lis Mara's brother Lisagain, who paced the mile in 1:49.2.[11] Although this is no longer the Canadian record, it still stands as the Rideau Carleton track record.[12]

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References
  1. "Let the 'gaming' begin". CBC News. 17 February 2000. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
  2. Ottawa XPress: Rideau Carleton Raceway listings
  3. "Gloucester Fair looks for new name as it expands, moves from May to August". Ottawa Citizen. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  4. "Horse Sense & Government Nonsense" (PDF). www.standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  5. "SC Rewind: Rideau Carleton Opens". standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  6. "SC Rewind: Rideau Carleton, Pt. 2". standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  7. "Track Speed Ratings - Standardbred Canada | Standardbred Canada". www.standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  8. "Rideau Racedate Calendar". standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  9. "Ontario Sires Stakes". www.standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  10. "Lis Mara tops mark at Des Smith Classic". canoe.com. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  11. "Record Mile For Lisagain In Des Smith". www.standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  12. "Track records | Rideau Carleton Raceway". rcr.net. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  1. The track speed rating compares the speed of horses on a given track with their speed on another track.
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