Update On Rideau Carleton Racing Season
At 0h03, on March 7, 2023 • By RIDEAU CARLETON
Management at Rideau Carleton Raceway has shared an update regarding the start of the 2023 harness racing season following a fire that destroyed the racing paddock last month.
Pending regulatory approval, the start of the 2023 season will be pushed back two weeks from March 19 to April 2 despite the best efforts of the track and community to clean up and rebuild following the Feb. 15 fire at the Ottawa oval.
“Since February’s fire, we have been forging an alternative to race as quickly as possible while our gutted paddock is rebuilt,” said Peter Andrusek, Racing Manager at Rideau Carleton Raceway. “After extensive consultation, it has been determined that we require three more weeks of time to perform the work followed by an additional week for approvals and inspections in order to retrofit barn D to a standard that would accommodate horsepeople’s needs as well as satisfying both provincial and federal regulators. Unfortunately, this will delay the start of our race season until Sunday, April 2.
Rideau’s proposal, pending regulatory approval, includes adding Wednesday evening cards through the month of April (April 5, 12, 19, 26) and dropping the following race dates: Sundays, March 19, Sunday, March 26, Thursday, April 20 and Thursday, April 27. The track plans to return to its original schedule of Thursdays and Sundays in May.
