http://www.drf.com/news/article/89617.html
Certainly not a surprise. I thought this would have happened sooner. Woodbine, arguably, has a successful model -- a partnership with the provincial government, a successful VLT operation, dollars that fuel the purses and the racing side of the "facility", and an overall collaborative business/partnership model. I know there are plenty of people who will say that the quality of racing has declined, purses are "so-so" and so on.
Regardless, by the time all shakes out, perhaps Empire will stand along. Whether or not they have an interest in the VLT side of the equation, I don't know. Excelsior has said they don't. I guess as time goes on, we will see.
Eric