Rideau Carleton Casino
OttawaMove dims chances of a downtown casino in Ottawa
Focus turns to raceway for possible casino
5/8-mile racetrack located in Gloucester, Ontario, Canada (near Ottawa). Live harness racing from May through September. Restaurants near Rideau Carleton Raceway & Casino 4837 Albion Rd, Ottawa, Ontario K1X 1A3, Canada. Read Reviews of Rideau Carleton Raceway & Casino. The Clubhouse #1,362 of 2,179 Restaurants in Ottawa 62 reviews. 0 miles from Rideau Carleton Raceway & Casino. Hotel in Ottawa (4.7 miles from Rideau Carleton Raceway Casino) Featuring barbecue facilities, Homewood Suites By Hilton Ottawa Airport is located in Ottawa in the Ontario region, 1.6 miles from EY Centre and 6 miles from TD Place Stadium. Rideau Carleton Raceway is a Canadian horse racing and gambling complex located in Ottawa, Ontario. The facility began operation in 1962 and specialises in standardbred harness racing with one of Canada's fastest 5/8 mile harness racing tracks. Hotel in Ottawa (4.7 miles from Rideau Carleton Raceway Casino) Featuring barbecue facilities, Homewood Suites By Hilton Ottawa Airport is located in Ottawa in the Ontario region, 1.6 miles from EY Centre and 6 miles from TD Place Stadium.
Ottawa
8 years agoVideoOttawa's mayor and some council members favour the Rideau-Carleton Raceway for casino.1:50Ottawa mayor Jim Watson has gone all in with his support of the Rideau Carleton Raceway, saying the location is 'the only acceptable option' for a new casino.
Watson said he'll table a notice at Tuesday's Finance and Economic Development Committee proposing to identify the Rideau Carleton Raceway as 'the only acceptable location for an expanded gaming facility in Ottawa.'
The committee will consider the motion in a meeting in July. Should it be approved, the proposal would effectively kill any possibility for a casino in Ottawa's downtown core.
The mayor wrote Monday in a note to council members that the proposal comes after he wrote the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation about maintaining slots at Rideau Carleton even as OLG sought bids for a new casino in the city.
OLG responded that only one gaming site would be permitted in each zone, said Watson.
Rideau Carleton Raceway & Casino
'It was becoming increasingly clear that there would be no future role for the RCR given the OLG’s most recent position. Therefore, I do not believe we should jeopardize the Rideau Carleton Raceway operation by not being crystal clear to the OLG prior to the start of its RFP process,' wrote Watson.
'Identifying the RCR as the City’s only acceptable location will allow potential operators to propose ways to build on the success of the existing facility and bring larger economic benefits to the City, while responding to community concerns,' he wrote.
Councillor Allan Hubley said he supports the proposed motion but said he wants to see the financial details of any Rideau Carleton Raceway bid before supporting the casino.
'I like what he is saying,' said Hubley, who added he never thought a downtown casino was a viable choice.
The OLG has been inviting companies to bid for a potential new gambling facility in the Ottawa area.
A request for pre-qualification was sent out in November looking for bidders for a 20-year contract for a new casino. The OLG stated it wants to choose the winning bid by the end of 2013.
Watson said the city is encouraging residents to write the City Clerk about their thoughts on the casino motion between now and the July FEDCO meeting.
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Coordinates: 45°17′47″N75°36′11″W / 45.296385°N 75.603147°W
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 Standardbredharness racing.
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]
Rideau Carleton Casino Facebook Page
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[edit]
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[a] 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]
References[edit]
- ^'Let the 'gaming' begin'. CBC News. 17 February 2000. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
- ^Ottawa XPress: Rideau Carleton Raceway listings
- ^'Gloucester Fair looks for new name as it expands, moves from May to August'. Ottawa Citizen. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^ ab'Horse Sense & Government Nonsense'(PDF). www.standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^'SC Rewind: Rideau Carleton Opens'. standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^'SC Rewind: Rideau Carleton, Pt. 2'. standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^'Track Speed Ratings - Standardbred Canada Standardbred Canada'. www.standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^'Rideau Racedate Calendar'. standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^'Ontario Sires Stakes'. www.standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^'Lis Mara tops mark at Des Smith Classic'. canoe.com. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^'Record Mile For Lisagain In Des Smith'. www.standardbredcanada.ca. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^'Track records Rideau Carleton Raceway'. rcr.net. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^The track speed rating compares the speed of horses on a given track with their speed on another track.
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