Connaught Park Offering Night Racing on Monday: First Time in Canadas History Sport Will be Held Under Lights, Daily Racing Form, 1954-06-26

article


view raw text

Connaught Park Offering Night Racing on Monday First Time in Canadas History Sport Will Be Held Under Lights CONNAUGHT PARK Race Track, Aly-mer, Quebec, June 25. Thoroughbred racing under the lights on the new half-mile track at the Aylmer Road racing plant will be inaugurated Monday night. It will be continued for the balance of the current meeting and possibly longer. The Department of Agriculture recently ruled that, the "day" as described in the Criminal Code amendment under which pair-mutuel betting is allowed, begins at 12:00 and ends at 11:59 midnight. Therefore, the Connaught Park club has been advised that it may operate its program at night. The provincial government at Quebec has issued a license for the meeting and has also consented to the change in times. Mr. George Gelly, director of license services for Quebec, visited Ottawa yesterday and conferred with Mr. James Higgin-son, supervisor of racing for the department of Agriculture. They both notified officers of the Connaught Park club that they would be within their rights in carrying out thoroughbred racing at night. Midnight, however, is the deadline for pari-mutuel betting. A meeting of the Quebec region of the HBPA will be held here tomorrow, but the horsemen have already given their consent. Representatives of the Jockeys Guild have also approved. This will be the first time in Canada that thoroughbred racing has been conducted under the lights. Operators of Thorncliffe Park, Toronto, planned- harness racing at night two years ago, but were refused permits by the Ontario provincial government. Night harness racing with pari-mutuel betting is, of course, permitted in Quebec There will be seven races nightly at Connaught Park with two quinellas. All the races will be over the half-mile track, for which a 5,000 lighting plant was installed last summer.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1954062601/drf1954062601_50_2
Local Identifier: drf1954062601_50_2
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800