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Times Advocate, 1993-05-26, Page 15Page 14 TIrnes-Advocate, May 26,1993 y Harness racing in Ontario Seelster Farms - 24 years of horse breeding Owner Jim VanBussel, :left; and veterinarian Pat Meyers, attend to a mare and her new foal at Seelster Farms. 0 Story':Ad photos by Fred Gimes T -A Racing on the ropes? LUCAN - The small harness racing tracks in Canada are in trouble. The reason is teletheatre which brings racing into bars where people can bet on them. Since 1990, Western Raceway in London, which has racing 127 days a year, has lost nearly half a million dollars. This year, Goderich Raceway will not open and you have to wonder if a small track like Clinton will be able to survive through it's 11 race days. "It's going through some traumatic times lately," said standardbred Chris VanBussel, manager of Seelster Farms in Lucan. "Fifteen years ago we were the only gaming in town and we were taxed that way." But things have changed as far as betting is con- cerned what with SportsSelect, casino gambling and the popularity of lotterys. VanBussel explained that at one time, there was sev- en percent tax on every gambling dollar in harness rac- ing. Now the racing is only about 27 percent of all gaming and they are still taxed the same way. Harness racing in 'this province pads the taxman's pocket by $50 million. "We have had trouble convincing them (govern- ment) and over the year we have made some head- way." There are now Sires Stakes programs and rebate pro- . grams but all the other gaming is hurting the business. "It's going to be disastrous on the standardbred in- dustry so we have to regroup," sand VanBussel. "We have to get new people in and revive it a bit." There are 21 regular tracks in Ontario plus 24 small ones which operates through local fair boards. After California and New York, Ontario is North America's third-largest racing industry. Family operation since 1969 LUCAN - It's a very busy time of the year at Canada's second largest standardbred breeding farm. Dozens of mares and their foals, some just a few weeks old move gracefully through the paddocks. Other foals, just hours old, wait for the chance when they can run with their protective mother close by. This is the beauty of Seelster Farms. And while the harness racing in- dustry is smack dab in the middle of what one breeder calls a traumat- ic period, the grass roots of the sport stays the same. Seelster Farms in Lucan has been breeding horses since 1969 - it is a family operation owned and operat- ed by the VanBussel's. "When I went to school, my _brother and I were in a dance band. 'The money we made we put to- wards a horse, that's how we got started," said Chris VanBussel, the manager of the farm who is joined in the operation by brothers Gerry and Jim and sister Tina. The VanBussel's were constantly taking their mares to Ohio and Michigan to be bred but soon de- cided it would be more convenient and in the long run, cheaper to get their own stallion. So in 1969, they bought Scarlet Wave and currently Seelster Farms have five stallions under its roof in- cluding Camluck, the fastest stand- ing horse in Canada and the second fastest horse of all time. Camluck was the winner of the 1991 Breeders Crown and .in his racing career had 53 starts which were 1:55 or faster and 76 starts in 2:00 or faster. The VanBussel's take care of their horses in almost a way you can call pampered, and those who have performed well are rewarded with a life time of comfort. "The first mare we ever raced we .still own, she's 32 yetis old. My dad'(Frank), owned herMether: He wanted something with a pedigree," said VanBussel. The 32 year-old mare, Sharon Song, is content to be with the oth- er mares in the paddock. She has been very good to the VanBussel's and produced for 24 years. "She enjoys life and she loves it" said VanBussel. Artificial method Being such a large breeding farm, Seelster Farms has, amongst its 17 employees, veterinarian Pat Meyers who is in charge of the actual breeding. The breeding is done artificially and it has been always done that way at Seelster Farms. "Artificial insemination has been 'the excepted way of breeding in the standardbred industry for 25 or 30 years," said Meyers. In the stallion bam, there is an area where the breeding is actually done and where the stallion produc- es semen into an artificial vagina. The double layer of rubber bag is filled with warm water and later in- serted into the mare. The traditional method of breed- ing is not done for disease control and to prevent injury to the horses. "We have the odd person who asks if we can cover their mare with natural coverings and we say no," said Meyers. "There's too much danger to the mare.". Breeding is very profitable as Camluck gets $4,000 as does the stallion Threefold while Cheyenne Spur and Totally Ruthless receive $3,000. Visitors welcome Seelster Farms is always trying to promote the horse breeding indus- try from giving tours to elementary children to explaining their entire operation to a group of Europeans. On Sunday, a dozen breeders from Moscow visited the Lucan farm as part of an exchange of in- formation which has been set up by the Canadian Trotting Association. "They're here to learn. They have standardbred racing in Russia," said VanBussel. "It's not on the same level as it is here." Callie Davies, of the Canadian Trotting Association who was the guide on Sunday, said she was one of Canada's representatives at the Intemational Driver Champion- ships at the Moscow Hippadrome last year. "They would _ like to open the lines of communication. We were invited to their association last year," she said. Four years ago, Seelster Farms hosted the World Trotting Confer= ence which saw standardbred breeders ' from all over the world come and here about the latest methods. But breeders are not the only visi tors to Seelster Farms as the Van- Bussel's are always giving tours td children. "We do that several times a year, especially in June when we first have foals," said VanBussel. "We've had as many as 300 kids here at one time. It gets them aware of knowing animals, what they're like and how they're treated." The horses are treated very well at Seelster Farms which is a place where the harness racing industry takes the past and meets it with'the future. "The first mare we ever raced, we still own." - ChrisVanBussel The 32 -year-old Sharon Song, left; and a friend in the paddock. "They're here to learn, they have standardbred racing in Russia." • Three mares are very attentive. Represent*tives from Moscow and Seelster Farms. Y.,