Hawke’s Bay’s ‘phantom’ race day: The fashion, music, punting will go on - without the horses

Some of New Zealand’s biggest punters, and a fashion contest, are expected to carry the day in the phantom race day going ahead in Hastings on Saturday despite the loss of the big race around which the day was being built on.

The Fashion in the Field competition attracts the punters from far and wide, last year including Sam West, from Auckland. A fashion contest and the Punter of the Year are still on the programme at Hawke's Bay Racing's phantom race day in Hastings on Saturday, although the horse racing will be in Hamilton. Mark Warren (left) will be back to have a good day, regardless. Photo / NZME.

The New Zealand Punter of the Year competition has been an annual feature of Hawkes Bay racing since 1998 and will see up to 150 entrants at the Hastings race course betting a combined total of at least $225,000 across the 10 Hawke’s Bay races now being run at Waikato race course Te Rapa.

They comprise the $550,000 Livamol Spring Classic, the $120,000 Valley D’Vine Spring Sprint, and eight other races each with stakes of $65,000 – a total of almost $1.2 million on what was to have been the third day of the Hawke’s Bay Racing Spring Racing Carnival in Hastings.

The transferring of the meeting by New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing followed a safety assessment after the abandonment of racing on the second day (September 28) after a horse slipped, but did not fall, in what became the one and only race.

As a result of the abandonment, the $400,000 Arrowfield Stud Plate and the $175,000 Hawke’s Bay Guineas also went north, to be run at Matamata on October 2, but, despite a 12-race jump-outs programme on the Hastings course on September 30 getting the thumbs-up from jockeys, the NZTR decided the industry could still not take the risk of another cancellation in Hastings.

The situation poses some risk for the future of racing at Hastings, which was able to stage just 10 of its scheduled race days in the last season from August 1, 2023 to July 31 this year.

Ironically, the three-day carnival flourished over the years for its assurance of good spring footing, particularly for horses being prepared for Australian campaigns including the Caulfield and Melbourne cups and the Cox Plate.

Also ironic is that, for similar reasons, the Hawke’s Bay racing programme for the new season features several events inherited from other racing clubs, including the Wairoa, Poverty Bay and Waipukurau cups, after the national body put an end to racing on their respective courses.

The Lowland Stakes, which gravitated to Hastings over the years following the closure of Ōpaki racecourse near Masterton, found a home in Hastings (although it had to be raced elsewhere in 2022 and 2023), and the next race day in Hastings on November 2, if it goes ahead, picks up a Feilding Jockey Club meeting unable to be held at Palmerston North’s Awapuni racecourse, which is undergoing reconstruction.

The Punter of the Year competition, which requires entrants to bet at least $150 on each race so long as they are able, is an attraction of proportion. Last year’s winner amassed $21,850 in winnings, and this year in addition to the collect at the tote the winner gets a first prize of $20,000 plus a $10,000 bet seven days later on $20 million Australian race The Everest.

Hawke’s Bay Racing says that, apart from the horses not going round, the “party’s still on”, with a big screen, and many other screens, in place to watch races from across Australasia.

The “party” will still have its Fashion in the Field competition, and it will still have its racing “Grand Tour” zone, part of a promotion linked to the top race meetings throughout the country over the summer.

One who’s not letting the absence of the horses ruin a good day is farmer Mark Warren, who stole the show in his pink suit in last year’s Fashion in the Field contest.

“I am entering into the spirit of the event,” he said, “and possibly going as a phantom king with no clothes, or just identifying as a possible racegoer.”

He said it was “very sad for Hawke’s Bay Racing and Hawke’s Bay, with huge ramifications for the accommodation and hospitality industry and the economy”.

“Obviously, there are some questions that have to be answered,” he said.

“The horses are part of it, but I go for the social outing and meeting up with people,” he said.

Chief executive officer Aaron Hamilton said there had been some people who had sought refunds with the big race no longer on the course, but there has also been a “spike” in ticket sales this week, some of it possibly driven by fans’ desire to show their support for racing in Hawke’s Bay.

He’s expecting a crowd of 2500-3000.

He said some things have to be done, but the first day of the carnival on September 7, including the $400,000 Tarzino Trophy race, was regarded by all involved as the “perfect” day, without track issues, and a Turf Institute “audit” of the track since the September 28 abandonment was “pretty positive” and HBR is discussing the future with NZTR.

In addition to the November 2 meeting, other races scheduled for Hastings this year are the Twilight Christmas Races on December 11, and the New Year’s Eve races on December 31. The Wairoa Cup is scheduled for mid-February and the Hawke’s Bay Cup for mid-April.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 51 years of journalism experience, 40 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.