Harness racing in Manitoba returns to the track with qualifying races in Holland on June 24th.

The Great Western Harness Racing Circuit has under gone many changes over the years. In 2017 all races will be just one day per weekend. “This year looks good but the number of horses are down and as a result of that we have one day of racing instead of two but we do have 10 weekends of racing” said Larry Cox the circuit's secretary-treasurer.

Cox blames higher purses in provinces like Alberta and Ontario for taking some of the horses off the tracks here in Manitoba.

“Despite the changes we know we will have a good summer because Sundays always seem to attract a lot of people.”

The 2017 race circuit will make stops in Killarney, Morris, Miami and Holland.

“Our funding largely comes from the province and that money has has slowly been cut back. Once the province legalized casinos and vlt's our numbers really dropped off” said Cox.

Most of the breeders are from Manitoba with the exception of a couple of stable from Saskatchewan that make the trip east to race in Manitoba.

The first official race weekend is set for July 9th in Miami. “It is business as usual other than we are cutting back to racing just on Sundays.”