Horse racing enthusiasts crowded into the bleachers at Vernon's Kin Racetrack on Sunday to watch what may, pending the outcome of a brewing legal battle, be the venue's final race. The City of Vernon and the North Okanagan Regional District have been trying to replace the track with sports fields for years, and they may have got their way.
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With a report from CTV British Columbia's Kent Molgat
Horse racing enthusiasts crowded into the bleachers at Vernon's Kin Racetrack on Sunday to watch what may, pending the outcome of a brewing legal battle, be the venue's final race. The City of Vernon and the North Okanagan Regional District have been trying to replace the track with sports fields for years, and they may have got their way. The Okanagan Equestrian Society has already been issued an eviction notice, but president Ed Woolley says they aren't going anywhere without a fight. "Everything that we make off of the operation of the track has been getting funneled into litigation to keep us alive," he said. The society will argue that since the land was donated to the local government as a race track, that's how it should stay. Some, like Carolyn Stinn, are banking on it. "[Closing the track] would cost my job," Stinn said. "I'm the jockey, and I ride here seven days a week." At the 117th Vernon Cup on Sunday, volunteer Desiree Wallis lamented the loss of more than 100 years of history. "It means a lot to me," she said. "I think it would be really sad." The track may need a court injunction just to survive until its case is heard in spring 2011, but Woolley says he's confident it has a future in Vernon. "We like the odds, so that's why we're betting on them," he said.
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