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sports Diaranson 4 november 2020

Toronto fails in bid to be reinstated to Super League

(AP) — Canadian rug- tion. Eric Perez. It won promotion
by league team Toronto twice in three years to claim
Wolfpack failed in its bid "We're naturally disappoint- a place in the Super League.
to be re-admitted to Eu- ed," said Bob Hunter, Wolf-
rope's top division on pack's chairman and chief Toronto played in front of
Monday. executive, who received the crowds of 9,000 in its sec-
news via a phone call from ond-tier Championship sea-
Toronto withdrew from its Super League executive son but hopes of capitalizing
inaugural season in the Super chairman Robert Elstone. on the signing of Sonny Bill
League in July, with its own- Williams for 2020 were scup-
ership citing financial prob- "I thought we put a pretty pered by an inability to play
lems caused by the coronavi- good submission together. At any games in Toronto be-
rus pandemic, and expressed the end of the day, there were cause of the pandemic.
hope it could return next year a few different questions that RFL going forward, I can't
under new ownership. probably didn't get answered, Hunter said Toronto busi- "We could certainly entertain really say. It's just too early."
so disappointed but under- nessman Carlo LiVolsi, the a new owner but we're defi-
However, a meeting of the stood." club's prospective new own- nitely out of Super League in Super League must decide
Super League board rejected er, had no interest in joining 2021," Hunter said. whether to run with 11 clubs
Toronto's submission by a The club was formed in 2016 either the third-tier League 1 in 2021 or find a 12th mem-
vote of 8-4, with one absten- by Canadian entrepreneur or the Championship. "Whether we re-apply to the ber.

Horse racing on slow track with efforts to address diversity

(AP) – Horse racing returns to Tiger Woods' dominance to champi- Even during the pandemic that has the fact that it could do more and it
Kentucky this weekend for an- on diversity initiatives, tennis diversi- emptied grandstands, business is needs to kind of do more," Wilson
other signature event it hopes fying its leadership group and seeing thriving, with record money being said.
will garner the attention of a an influx of players since Venus and wagered all over the country, a trend
mainstream audience. Serena Williams burst on to the scene that's expected to continue Friday Daniels believes that change has to
or the National Hockey League hir- and Saturday with 14 Breeders' Cup start from the top and trickle down,
While it wants to be considered ing Kim Davis as executive vice presi- world championship races at Keene- a struggle because horse racing has no
among North America's major sports, dent to oversee social impact, horse land worth $28 million. central governing body and therefore
the industry has so far lagged behind racing has been slow to market to, no national marketing effort outside
others in terms of how it is actively attract and hire minorities outside of But horse racing has been unable to major events. But Daniels and other
addressing systemic racism concerns jobs on the backstretch and as jock- bring in fresh faces with no previ- Black members of the horse racing
during a nationwide reckoning on the eys. ous connection to the sport, espe- community have started some con-
issue. Owners Greg Harbut and Ray cially minorities. By founding the Ed versations and reported largely posi-
Daniels hope the Breeders' Cup sig- "They have kind of hid from the prob- Brown Society named for the 19th tive experiences.
nals the start of a real conversation in lem," Daniels said. "A lot of organiza- century Black trainer, Harbut and
horse racing, but they aren't waiting tions feel as long as it's not happening Daniels hope they can create a pipe- "Whenever you have a small num-
around for change in an industry they inside my organization, it's probably line for Black executives and sprout a ber of a certain group, there really is
feel has been largely tone-deaf due to not a place for me to comment or a generation of new fans to diversify a no issue, per se, because nobody else
a lack of prominent Black stakehold- place for me to take a stand." crowd that's predominantly white on feels threatened," Wilson said. "We're
ers in place to guide the sport during days without big races. not even at the point where there are
turbulent times. By Derby week in September, there enough people where the system's
was an acknowledgement that the "When you go to the track, you see a going to really just have a true issue."
"Conversations are beginning, but at sport is "not doing enough quickly 98, 97% really Caucasian audience or
this stage, that's all we're receiving is enough" and has "not successfully crowd that is partaking in the sport," One of the few black, U.S.-born
audio," said Harbut, who co-owns created an environment in which ev- Daniels said. "When you do have a jockeys on the circuit, Kendrick Car-
Kentucky Derby horse Necker Island eryone feels welcome or included." chance to bring other cultures to the mouche also has experienced the best
and is co-founder along with Daniels Churchill Downs said it's "commit- track, they are quite shocked that this of the sport, heartened by the wide-
of an organization aimed at increasing ted to taking real, concrete action to is not something that the industry is spread response when he broke his
minority involvement in racing. "We address institutional roadblocks to working on across the whole coun- right leg last year. After kneeling with
need some video to match the audio. progress and playing our part in ad- try." fellow jockeys in the paddock before
When that happens, I think you'll see vancing the changes America so des- the first race when racing returned to
things change. But the industry has to perately needs." Some of the few people of color in New York over the summer, he un-
decide where it's at now. Does it re- positions of influence — including derstands actions like those are done
ally want to see change?" Still, being slow to change isn't hurt- Jason Wilson, president and CEO of for him because not many in the in-
ing the sport financially. stats site Equibase, and Alicia Hughes, dustry can empathize.
Unlike golf using the springboard of director of communications for the
National Thoroughbred Racing As- "I think they understand what's going
sociation — struggle to effect change on, but they don't want to be publicly
in a stubborn sport. out there with it," Carmouche said.
"A lot of people, if they don't believe
Wilson learned early that endors- in it, they'd rather not set their mind
ing diversity means nothing without up to think that way."
policies and procedures to address
it. While much of horse racing was Harbut has experienced it but hopes
silent in the aftermath of the police one day he will be able go to a turf
killing of George Floyd, Hughes club or enter a suite without worry-
helped craft the NTRA's statement ing about having to explain he's not
saying, "The systemic racism that has lost or being asked if needs directions
poisoned our country cannot be al- — that "this is actually where you be-
lowed to inflict its pain on one more long."
generation" and pushed for more ac-
tions. "Not that you need anything special
done," he said. "You just want to be
"Racing is kind of just waking up to treated like a regular person."