Horse racing licensing
The AGCO licenses participants in the horse racing industry, such as jockeys, trainers, drivers, veterinarians, stables and partnerships, racetracks associations, and teletheatres. AGCO Licensing Agents work at racetracks and at the AGCO’s Head Office in Toronto. This work continued during the pandemic when racing was allowed.
TABLE 17: Horse racing licensing
|
Licensing (Number of licences issued) |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|---|---|---|
|
Thoroughbred |
4,537 |
2,674 |
|
Quarter Horse |
428 |
271 |
|
Standardbred |
8,998 |
3,069 |
|
Teletheatres |
59 |
48 |
|
Racetracks |
15 |
15 |
|
Total |
14,037 |
6,077 |
Ontario racetracks
Thoroughbred
- Fort Erie Race Track, Fort Erie
- Woodbine Racetrack, Toronto
Standardbred
- Clinton Raceway, Clinton
- Dresden Raceway, Dresden
- Flamboro Downs, Dundas
- Georgian Downs, Innisfil
- Grand River Raceway, Elora
- Hanover Raceway, Hanover
- Hiawatha Horse Park, Sarnia
- Kawartha Downs, Fraserville
- Lakeshore Racing, Leamington
- Woodbine Mohawk Park, Campbellville
- Rideau Carleton Raceway, Ottawa
- The Raceway at Western Fair, London
- Woodbine Racetrack, Toronto
Quarter Horse
- Ajax Downs, Ajax
Racing inspections
In 2020–2021, the AGCO continued to conduct its horse racing–related inspection and investigation activities.
Note: Upon the completion of iAGCO online services rollout, horse racing complaints previously housed in the Horse Racing Database are now listed as Inspections and Investigations in iAGCO.
TABLE 18: Inspections – Horse racing
|
Inspection Types |
2020–21 |
|---|---|
|
Complaint Driven – CMP |
33 |
|
Consult with Licensee / Registrant – CLR |
15 |
|
Education – EDU |
1 |
|
Equine Accident Inspection – EAI |
5 |
|
Equine Fatality Inspection – EFI |
12 |
|
Equine Positive Test – PTE |
34 |
|
Intelligence – ITL |
28 |
|
Issues Note – Contentious - INC |
3 |
|
Out of Competition Testing – OCT |
76 |
|
Unannounced Inspection – UNI |
107 |
|
Total |
314 |
TABLE 19: Investigations – Horse racing
|
Investigation Types |
2020–21 |
|---|---|
|
AGCO Legal Investigation |
5 |
|
HRLA Investigation |
1 |
|
Horse Racing – Eligibility Review Investigation |
88 |
|
Racing Intelligence |
1 |
|
Rules of Racing |
2 |
|
Total |
97 |
Rulings
Rulings are written decisions by AGCO Judges and Stewards that relate to violations of the Rules of Racing, 2018. The decisions can be appealed to the Horse Racing Appeal Panel, an independent and impartial adjudicative body – see Horse Racing Appeal Panel page of this Annual Report.
TABLE 20: Rulings by racing officials
|
Breed |
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Thoroughbred | ||||
|
Stewards’ Rulings |
187 |
109 |
||
|
Live Race Dates |
171 |
134 |
||
|
Standardbred | ||||
|
Judges’ Rulings |
417 |
313 |
||
|
Live Race Dates |
710 |
523 |
||
|
Quarter Horse | ||||
|
Stewards’ Rulings |
13 |
22 |
||
|
Live Race Dates |
25 |
21 |
||
Notices
TABLE 21: Number of Notices of Proposed Order or Immediate Suspension
|
|
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|---|---|---|
|
Notice of Proposed Order To suspend, revoke or immediately suspend a licence |
12 |
3 |
Hearings, appeals, dispute resolution, and settlements
The Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) is responsible for adjudicating appeals of decisions on licensing activities regulated by various ministries. The LAT is part of Tribunals Ontario and is independent of the AGCO.
Notices of Proposal, Notices of Proposed Order or an Orders of Monetary Penalty issued by the Registrar regarding a licensing or registration matter under the Liquor Licence Act (LLA), Gaming Control Act 1992 (GCA), Horse Racing Licence Act 2015 (HRLA) or Cannabis Licence Act 2018 (CLA) and regulations, can be appealed to the LAT.
The LAT will also conduct public interest hearings to determine if issuance of a liquor licence or changes to liquor-licensed premises is in the public interest.
Horse racing licensees can appeal decisions made under the Rules of Racing to the Horse Racing Appeal Panel.
The following settlements were reached without a LAT hearing:
TABLE 22: Alcohol-related settlements without a hearing
|
|
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|---|---|---|
|
Number of Settlements agreed to without a hearing (NOPs and OMPs) |
98 |
11 |
*These settlements are negotiated by the AGCO’s Legal Services Division, based on instructions from the Registrar.
TABLE 23: Alcohol-related public meeting conference calls
If the AGCO receives a written objection to the issuance of a liquor sales licence, a decision is made to either set up a public meeting at the AGCO or issue an NOP to review the licence application, which can be appealed to the LAT. A public meeting is an alternative dispute-resolution process and is an informal meeting among the liquor licence applicant, the objectors, and a Deputy Registrar of the AGCO. This meeting may be arranged as a telephone conference call.
|
|
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|---|---|---|
|
Number of Public Meeting Conference Calls |
15 |
12 |
TABLE 24: Gaming-related settlements without a hearing
|
|
2019–20 |
2020–21 |
|---|---|---|
|
Number of settlements agreed to without a hearing (Notices of Proposed Order and Orders of Monetary Penalty) |
5 |
0 |
*These settlements are negotiated by the AGCO’s Legal Services Division, based on instructions from the Registrar.