DOWN THE BACKSTRETCH: APHRC to name new boss
There may be quickly to be a brand new face as director of racing of the Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Fee, and the approaching weeks are certain to map out the long run course of the establishment.
Brett Revington, present director of racing with the APHRC since early 2019, has given discover he might be leaving the place to maneuver into the non-public sector. A brand new individual might be employed to fill that position within the coming weeks, and the harness racing business watches with nice curiosity to see what affect P.E.I. Premier Dennis King and his newly-minted minister answerable for racing, Mark McLane, take within the course of.
The APHRC, which oversees the regulatory and appeals technique of East Coast harness racing, is ruled by an act of the Council of Atlantic Premiers. Contemplating there is no such thing as a lively harness racing in Newfoundland and Labrador, it results in the wheelhouse of the Maritime provinces.
The provincial governments in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia haven’t proven a lot curiosity within the racing fee, which leaves P.E.I. because the driving drive to sculpt what happens on the head workplace in Kensington.
The APHRC is funded by a proportion of the general stay and simulcast wager from all 4 provinces, with the general funds chiming in north of $800,000 a 12 months protecting bills that embody two full-time workers members and operating conferences and appeals for the seven-person board of administrators, often known as commissioners.
The fee additionally provides racing officers to all pari-mutuel tracks within the area at the price of round $250,000 a 12 months, however these providers are then billed out and paid by every particular person observe.
The commissioners are chaired by Frank Balcom of Amherst, N.S., who served as chair from 2003 to 2011 and stepped off the APHRC for one time period earlier than returning in 2014 to be chair ever since. He’s joined in Nova Scotia by Lowell Crowe of Sydney, whereas Stefan Decourcey and Dr. Mitchell Downey serve from New Brunswick. Keith Gowan is the fee consultant for Newfoundland and Labrador.
William Roloson of Belfast has been a commissioner for P.E.I. since July of 2019, and that three-year time period is quickly to run out. Jacinta Campbell of Charlottetown was named because the second commissioner for the province earlier this 12 months.
The key mandate of the APHRC is to guard the integrity of our racing product for wagering prospects, whereas it additionally has the distinctive benefit of being the one harness racing establishment spanning all 4 provinces.
With the precise individual in place, the fee may spark some frequent inter-provincial objectives for the long-term success of the area for generations to come back. There have been so many wonderful issues occur with Island racing the previous few years, we simply want to ensure the precise individuals are positioned in these prime roles in order that East Coast harness racing could be loved for generations to come back.
Nicholas Oakes’ column seems in The Guardian every Friday. He could be reached at [email protected]
