Future of Cloverdale grandstand

These days the Cloverdale grandstand in the fairgrounds is a far cry from the grandstand that I knew as a kid. Today it is the home of Fraser Downs Racetrack and Casino. The casino came into being in late 2003 after the racetrack and many of the backstretch workers petitioned city hall to allow slot machines to help revive the sagging racing industry. Over the next two years the grandstand was revamped into the casino that stands on the fairgrounds today.

But how much life is left in it?

Although the casino has helped the racing keep its head above water, the reality is that wagering is down 10% from the past year and customers have found other venues for sporting entertainment. Purses are dropping, there are fewer race nights, and horse owners are earning less. Many are getting out of the business or relocating to other racetracks where they have a better chance of earning a living.

I've heard that Fraser Downs wants to open a show theatre on the grounds, similar to the Red Robinson theatre in Coquitlam or the River Rock in Richmond. The entertainers that frequent these theatres usually do both of them over a few day period, such as Kenny Rogers, The Beach Boys, and Air Supply. They would need to build the theatre on part of the racetrack ground. Probably be a bigger money earner that the end result between the wagers currently placed and the purse money paid out to the racehorse owners.

There are also grumblings from the provincial government in charge of gaming in BC about combining Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing onto the same racetrack because both breeds run about 6 months of the year, during the opposite months. Thoroughbreds race April to October, while Standardbreds race October to April. Sometimes with a few cross over weekends. The government said this will likely occur within the next 2 years. Between the racetracks in Cloverdale and Vancouver, the government prefers Vancouver - Hastings Park located on the PNE grounds.

More surprisingly the government says if all the horse racing is moved to Hastings Park, then the slot machines at Cloverdale will be relocated to the Great Canadian Casino's other location in Surrey.

So that leaves Fraser Downs Racetrack and Casino without horse racing and without slot machines. What else is left there? No one's going to convince me they'll still build a show theatre without an attached casino to draw patrons in.

Were all the upgrades to the original grandstand worth it for what could very well be less than ten years of actual use? I haven't heard any news on what the fate of the old grandstand will be if the Standardbreds move to Hastings and the slots are moved to the other casino.

Cloverdale Raceway opens

When I was growing up in Cloverdale the only horse racing we had was during the rodeo on the long weekend in May and that was chuckwagon racing. The grandstand was a bit different back then. There were outside bleachers with a roof cover and more bleachers on the infield. The curling rink was attached to the bleachers on the east side, the Greenaway Park side.

In the early 1970's during Cloverdale's fall fair in late September a group of different racehorses showed up to race on the chuckwagon track during the weekend. They were Standardbreds pulling racing sulkies, guided by a driver, generally a man, sitting on the sulky.

In late 1975 or early 1976 Standardbred racing officially began in Cloverdale including betting windows and placing wagers. The grandstand was transformed into a closed in building. The curling rink was relocated to where it currently is off 176th Street on the west side of the fairgrounds. Barns to stable the horses were built at the north end of the fairgrounds and the racetrack was upgraded to a limestone track.

The racetrack was very popular during the first few years with racing 5 days or nights a week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The popularity of racing fed off Hastings Park's Thoroughbred racing during the spring and summer months. When the season ended mid-October the gamblers had nothing until Cloverdale Raceway opened in the mid-70's and offered Standardbred racing from mid-October to mid-April. So the racing piggybacked off each other. One breed of racing ending as the other racing breed began. Of course back then there was no other types of gambling in the Lower Mainland and not a whole lot of entertainment options out there either other than movies, sporting events, and music concerts. Cablevision brought us about 12 channels on the TV.

Even though it was in competition with the Thoroughbred racing at Hastings Park, Cloverdale Raceway still held a fall meet of racing during the fall fair in September for the weekend. Eventually they expanded their fall meet to two weekends.

In the 1970's and 1980's it was not uncommon to see cars lined up all the way down 176th Street from Cloverdale to well past the Fraser Highway on race nights as cars came in to town to watch the racing. The races ended just after 10pm and it was a steady flow of traffic leaving Cloverdale too. Bumper to bumper traffic back then.

Cloverdale Raceway charged patrons a parking fee to park in the fairgrounds and also charged admission to the racetrack grandstand of $2/person.