After stating that his track was left out of the discussion for Ontario's harness racing industry, Hiawatha Horse Park owner Jim Henderson has some renewed optimism.

According to an article published late Friday in the Sarnia Observer, Henderson was contacted by both the Ministry of Finance and the OMAFRA panel about resuming talks with Hiawatha next week.

“They made me an offer about a month ago that I said wouldn’t work,” said Henderson, going on to say that he was contacted on Thursday by the provincial government.

“They said they wanted to work with us.”

Hiawatha was one of two tracks given no race dates when the Ontario Racing Commission issued race dates for the remainder of 2013 - the other being Woodstock Raceway. Henderson noted earlier this week that he was dismayed that his track was seemingly left out of the equation.

"I was basically told we're excluded, they're not (the OMAFRA horse-racing transitional panel is not) going to negotiate with you at this time," Henderson told CTV News earlier this week. "Every time we go to do something it's the same thing, 'Hiawatha, you're excluded, you're not even part of the deal.'"

The Observer reports that Henderson was setting up a meeting with local MPP Bob Bailey and hoped to also include representatives from local fair boards.

“It looks like in other places, ag societies and fair boards are helping to make racing work in their area,” said Henderson. “We’re hoping we’ll have a race season too with everyone working together.”

Henderson told The Observer he's encouraged that it appears Hiawatha could race this season, noting that he still has purse money from last season but needs more clarity on what his expenses will be going forward.

“I’ve always said I wanted to keep racing. We spent the winter redoing the kitchen; we put in a new sound system for the announcer and just finished cleaning up the grounds."