Woodbine Entertainment Group, the successor to the historic Toronto Turf Club, is launching a new plug-and-play pari-mutuel wagering platform to enable Ontario’s licensed online sportsbooks to legally offer horse racing bets. This platform, already integrated by major operators bet365 and the government-owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG), aims to bridge the regulatory gap between horse racing and sports betting in Canada. Woodbine remains the only federally licensed provider of pari-mutuel betting in Ontario, and this initiative seeks to attract younger, casual sports bettors by expanding horse racing’s reach within popular online sportsbooks.

Despite the growth of legalized sports betting, horse racing wagering has declined, partly due to regulatory complexities and competition from fixed-odds betting offered by unregulated operators. Woodbine supports efforts to curb illegal betting and is focused on growing the industry through legal channels. While fixed-odds wagering is gaining traction elsewhere, Canada’s federal regulations currently restrict horse racing bets to pari-mutuel formats. Woodbine’s new platform and partnerships aim to modernize and expand horse racing’s appeal, ensuring the sport’s long-term viability by attracting a broader audience and increasing wagering revenue, which supports breeders, trainers, and the racing ecosystem.