Race on to save racing in CHB and Wairoa

Christmas at the Races in Waipukurau last December. It may have been one of the last races on the historic course. Photo / File

Hawke's Bay towns Waipukurau and Wairoa seem unlikely to go down without a fight after learning they may have lost their annual horse race meetings.

But there were no hot tips on the outcome as clubs with histories dating back almost 150 years kept their lips sealed for fear of upsetting powers that be in the do-or-die three-week consultation period left to save the days.

It follows announcements on Friday that the towns' racecourses would be among 10 around the country for racing licences will not be issued for new season starting on August 1.

The Waipukurau Jockey Club, formed in 1872, would have staged four race days in the 2019-2020 season, but for the cancellation of its last on March 24, a day after Covid-19 caused the suspension of all gallops, harness racing and greyhound meetings nationwide.

The Wairoa Racing Club, formed in 1879, had its two-day annual meeting on its Te Kupenga race course in February.

In each case their annual Cup day racing was for many years one of the two annual big days out, alongside each town's A and P Show.

The proposal comes in an acceleration of racing's plan for the future, in which it had been foreshadowed that Wairoa could be among a first group to go, with Waipukurau likely to have a stay of execution and time to possibly protect its future in the next few years.

Also set for the chop is the Poverty Bay Turf Club's only race day at its course on the outskirts of Gisborne, but racing will continue at Woodville, which had been among those at risk of being closed.

There is now a consultation period ending on June 15, with the 2020-2021 calendar to be confirmed by July 3.

Wairoa club president Paul Toothill was not commenting pending the consultation, while the Waipukurau club committee is expected to consider options.

In both cases the news is thought to have been received only on Friday, almost at the same time as the public announcement, which includes the scrapping of racing big city club Avondale in Auckland, where big racing continues at Ellerslie.

An indication of Waipukurau's reluctance to roll-over came in a Facebook post when it announced the 11th hour cancellation of the March meeting, which had been set to go ahead without the public.

The post said: "We will be back – Stay strong CHB."

Wairoa mayor Craig Little, who goes to the Wairoa races on at least one of the two days every year, is angered, having seen a battle a year ago.

"I believed we had a reprieve," he said. "When I heard this on Friday I thought: This is a joke. It's been one of the two big events for everyone in Wairoa for many years. We are a small community. We can't afford to lose it from our calendar. What the hell else do we have left?"

All racing in Hawke's Bay and the East Coast is now expected to be in Hastings, with the draft calendar comprising 14 race dates at the Hawke's Bay Racing Centre, one more than last season.

The dates are: Saturday, September 19 (Spring Racing Carnival day 1); Saturday, October 3 (carnival day 2); Saturday, October 17 (carnival day 3); Sunday, November 8; Wednesday, December 9 (twilight); Friday, January 1 (New Year's Day Races); Thursday, January 28; Sunday, February 21; Wednesday, March 3 (twilight); Saturday, April 17 (Hawke's Bay Cup); Saturday, May 1; Wednesday, May 26; Saturday, July 3 (Hawke's Bay Steeplechase and Hurdles); Thursday, July 22.