The spokesperson for Dresden Raceway is disputing allegations of race fixing in 2017.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is investigating a complaint about harness horse racing in Dresden and Leamington. BlackburnNews.com became aware of the allegations through an email from a concerned citizen.
Gary Patterson says it's nearly impossible to fix races and believes there's no basis for the accusation.
"On the scene at Dresden Raceway every week, there are two judges, you've got racing officials as well as a paddock judge. There are so many items in place to stop things like this," he says.
Patterson is disappointed that someone would question the integrity of the raceways and the sport and hopes this doesn't give horse racing a black eye.
Randy Zhok, owner, racer, and breeder (since 1977) from Dresden Raceway agrees with Patterson and says there's no financial gain to fixing races in small tracks like Dresden and Leamington.
Patterson says drivers don't have time to cheat during races even if they wanted to.
"A driver has a split second to make a choice on the track. It all has to come together perfectly to form the horse race and I would be very, very surprised if any of these allegations are even close to being true," he says.
Patterson says most racing complaints stem from people who lose money on a race.
"He or she may have placed a wager on the race and not done so well or as anticipated and maybe thought the race should have gone a different way," Patterson says.
