MONROE TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WKRC) – It’s a billion-dollar industry in Ohio with a strong foothold in Warren County, but harness racing is at risk of being eliminated there.

The Warren County Agricultural Society’s board voted this week to evict all 300+ horses that stable and train at its facility.

“This track has been just a staunch supporter of harness racing across the entire state of Ohio for many many decades,” said Scott Hagemeyer.

Horsemen said that they were blindsided by the decision. Dozens of families rely on the fairgrounds training facility and barns to run their businesses.

“This is a business that the men and women that train horses here do for a living,” said Hagemeyer. “They have to generate revenue. No different than all of us do at home. If you work a job, you have a paycheck; that’s exactly how this works.”

They said that the mass evictions will have a devastating ripple effect on the area.

Racing runs deep for Brittany Carlo.

“It’s a legacy, and it’s going to be gone,” said Carlo.

Carlo was emotional as she shared photos of her great-grandfather racing on these grounds in the 1960s.

“This is our life. We have 13 horses in here right now,” said Carlo. “They are what provides for our family.”

Despite it being a lucrative business, the livelihoods of the people in the industry in Warren County are at risk.

“[I] haven’t been able to sleep; haven’t been able to eat; haven’t been able to breathe,” said Antonia Storer.

Many of the horsemen knew there were financial struggles, but they had no idea it would come to them being evicted until this notice was posted on their barns on Tuesday night.

The WCAS’s notice explained that the fairgrounds is discontinuing harness racing and ordering renters to vacate due to “overwhelming financial burden.”

“At no point was there any discussion at all prior to Monday’s meeting that there was anything on the table about discontinuing harness racing,” said Hagemeyer.

“They’re devastating hundreds of people, several families. And they just cast a vote without a care,” said Carlo. “It’s going to take food out of people’s mouths, and it’s going to displace people. It’s going to displace animals.”

This comes after the horsemen’s monthly rent increased from $125 a stall to $150 this summer.

“We do know that they’re struggling financially. What we don’t know is why,” said Antonia Storer.

They said that at first, the board tried to raise the rent by more than 60%, but the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association helped negotiate a minimal increase.

“That still put Warren County Fairgrounds at the highest single rate for a stall per month in the entire state of Ohio, but that was a manageable adjustment,” said Scott Hagemeyer, a director of the OHHA.

Carlo said that the notice is extremely vague.

“We really are left with nothing other than, ‘You’re an extreme financial burden,’ which doesn’t add up,” Carlo said. “That’s over $600,000 a year in stall rent. Where is the money going? The bookkeeping is terrible.”

Each of the more than 300 horses stabled at the facility comes with a team of people—its owners, trainers, groomers, vets, and more.

“It’s a matter of 300 horses with approximately 1,000-1,200 directly impacted people going away,” said Hagemeyer. “It’s a matter of $803,000 between grain and hay alone being removed from the local agricultural business.”

Hagemeyer said that he’s spoken to one local feed company that gets one-third of their business from the horses kept at the facility. The horses are performance athletes. Hagemeyer said that you can compare it to baseball, football, and other athletes.

To put it in perspective, one of Carlo’s horses has already generated more than $162,000 so far this year. It’s money that they say goes back into the local economy. Storer said that the eviction would mean uprooting her family.

“Evicting us evicts us completely from Warren County. It’s just unrealistic to think you’re going to be able to sell your home, find a new spot, find a new spot for your horses, and buy a house within 42 days,” said Storer. “There’s nowhere even in my stable to go of 12 horses, let alone 300.”

Hagemeyer said that the bottom line is that there are no other options.

“You’re not just looking for a field; you’re not just looking for a stall; they have to have a training facility,” Hagemeyer said. “There are not vacancies at surrounding training centers. Clinton County in Wilmington has six vacant stalls; that’s not going to house 300 horses. Green County up in Xenia has less than half a dozen stalls.”

The Warren County Agricultural Society’s board president, Dana Letner, told Local 12 that the notice issued to renters is their only statement at this time.

Letner said that they do plan to move forward with holding the 2025 Warren County Fair on the fairgrounds. The notices left for those horse owners indicate any property left at the fairgrounds after December 1 will be considered abandoned and subject to disposal.

Storer and Carlo said that they have tried to contact the board members but haven’t been able to reach them.