Hard Rock Hotel and Casino [former Rideau Carleton Raceway] | Completed

[eltodesukane]

It is close to the Bowesville station, but not close enough.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I noticed. It just looks off. Look at all the Hard Rock Casinos and Hotels in the World, and ours truly is the cheapest version, by a long shot.

It is also the only one in the middle of a cornfield. OLG knows there is no need to spend extra money.

[lrt's friend]

Nobody will walk to Bowesville Station. It is a busy road and there are no road shoulders to speak of for pedestrians. These are old rural back roads that have not been upgraded. Even the pavement is old and badly patched.

[OTSkyline]

I will continue to go to Lac Leamy for my bi-annual casino evening.

[Tesladom]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

This tells you a bit about the clientele. The location for casinos is not that important. Build it and they will come

Yup, people who fail grade 10 maths are #1 prospects for casinos.

I think Lac Leamy draws more tourists in. I doubt someone attending a convention in Ottawa will say "Hey let's go to Hard Rock"... but i may be wrong (back to my grade 10 math statement)

[movebyleap]

It reminds me of a basic Fairfield Inn on the side of a highway.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by movebyleap

It reminds me of a basic Fairfield Inn on the side of a highway.

At least the Fairfield has waffles.

[rocketphish]

End of the line: Rideau Carleton Raceway to cease harness racing operations in 2026

By Marissa Galko, OBJ
April 6, 2026

The Rideau Carleton Raceway will close its racing operations as of the 2026 season, ending 64 years of harness racing in the capital.

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Ottawa and Ontario Racing announced the move last week after “extensive discussions” about the venue’s future.

“We made significant investments in racing infrastructure and adjusted our operations multiple times over the last three years; however, a sustainable path forward was not possible,” Christine Crump, president of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Ottawa, said in a news release.

The raceway has invested millions of dollars to improve its operations in recent years, but Crump said consumer preferences have changed.

“This is a sad time for our team members, the horse racing community and all those directly impacted. Racing at Rideau Carleton Raceway will always be remembered as an important chapter in the site’s history,” she said in the release.

Hard Rock added that all employees that are directly affected by this decision are being offered “alternative employment opportunities within the organization, along with any necessary skills training to support career transitions.”

Andrew Gaughan, independent chair of Ontario Racing, said the organization encourages local horsepeople to continue racing at any of the remaining 11 racetracks in the province.

“To help ease this transition, a portion of the funding traditionally provided to Rideau Carleton Raceway will be used to establish a relocation support program, while the balance of funding will go back into purses for live horse racing at other Ontario Standardbred racetracks,” Gaughan said in a release.

“We are thankful to OLG and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Gaming for the long-term financial support provided to Rideau Carleton Raceway and Ontario’s entire breeding and horse racing industry.”

The Rideau Carleton Raceway has hosted some of the province’s most prestigious harness races since opening in 1962.

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Ottawa, which opened its $350-million hotel and casino resort last July, has operated three race seasons under its sole ownership.

The project to take over the Rideau Carleton Casino and develop Hard Rock’s entertainment complex was first announced in May 2017, but the pandemic delayed construction, which started in June 2023.

https://obj.ca/rideau-carleton-raceway-cease-racing-operations-2026/

[phil235]

I wonder if the value of the land for development has made it untenable to maintain the racing.

[YOWetal]

So they get to build a Casino to save harness racing and can just shut it down as soon as it's built. Granted this was approved back in 2017 but that's an obscene fail.

[OTSkyline]

So... we built the Casino out in the boonies for nothing when we could've had a nice, vibrant, urban location. Nice...

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

So... we built the Casino out in the boonies for nothing when we could've had a nice, vibrant, urban location. Nice...

Jim Watson opposed a downtown casino both in the 1990s and again in the 2010s.

Horse Racing was always going to be a loser since OLG got into lotteries and then casinos. The Ontario government made gambling so much easier with lotteries starting in the 1970s and so much sexier with casinos starting in the 1990s. Horse Racing could never compete. The death knell came when the new casino opened and the connection to the horse racing venue was severed. It is clear that horse racing was never part of Hard Rock's plan for the site.

I know I am in the tiny minority who find lotteries and slot machines terribly boring and a waste of money.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by eltodesukane

It is close to the Bowesville station, but not close enough.

I watched presumably an employee doing this walk. There are no road shoulders, making it unsafe for pedestrians at the best of times and positively dangerous in winter.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Jim Watson opposed a downtown casino both in the 1990s and again in the 2010s.

Horse Racing was always going to be a loser since OLG got into lotteries and then casinos. The Ontario government made gambling so much easier with lotteries starting in the 1970s and so much sexier with casinos starting in the 1990s. Horse Racing could never compete. The death knell came when the new casino opened and the connection to the horse racing venue was severed. It is clear that horse racing was never part of Hard Rock's plan for the site.

I know I am in the tiny minority who find lotteries and slot machines terribly boring and a waste of money.

Horse Racing was the thing of an older generation, the generations even before Baby Boomers. It was futile for Watson to force the casino at the RCR to save a dying industry. And honestly, good riddance, because horse racing is not great for, you know, the horses.

Built into the contract with Hard Rock should have been a penalty if ever the raceway closed.

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I watched presumably an employee doing this walk. There are no road shoulders, making it unsafe for pedestrians at the best of times and positively dangerous in winter.

Would be easy enough to build an MUP, but that's crazy talk.

[ponyboycurtis]

I enjoyed the odd visit to the horse track. Was really weird sitting out in the empty grandstands with nothing but the massive AC units powering the casino below. Just about every bettor sat at the tables inside.

Shoutout to the offtrack betting spot that used to be above the Concorde and next to the Salvation Army on Montreal road. Probably the greasiest spot I've ever been too in my life. Loved it. Felt like I was in a Bukowski novel.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

so much sexier with casinos starting in the 1990s. ... I know I am in the tiny minority who find lotteries and slot machines terribly boring and a waste of money.

I think you're in the majority, and on neither of the occasions that I set foot in the Casino de Ull did I ever feel especially sexy or see much sexiness on display.