RACING: Profit a pleasing result after bad start to year

John Jenkins
Hawke's Bay Racing Incorporated showed a profit of $3491 for the last racing season, ending July 31.
Club general manager John McGifford told members at the club's annual meeting last Wednesday night that it was a satisfying result given the disastrous start to the season.
Wet weather forced the Hawke's Bay club to abandon the first day of the 2003 Kelt Capital Spring Carnival, although it did manage to transfer the day's main race, the group one $100,000 Mudgway Partsworld Stakes, to Wanganui a week later.
Then further wet weather made the Hastings racetrack unsuitable to race on for the second day of the carnival, with that day's races having to be transferred to the Otaki track.
The feature race on this day was the $120,000 Glenmorgan Stakes.
McGifford said the club would normally have made approximately $160,000 from the Mudgway Partsworld raceday but, due to the abandonment and race shift, it only made $20,000.
"And shifting the second day of the carnival to Otaki cost $40,000 less on projected income," McGifford said.
"To get back on track after such a bad start to the season was incredible," he added.
The club's coffers were boosted by a bonanza third day of the Kelt Capital Spring Carnival, when record on and off-course betting figures were achieved.
It was the first time the club cracked the $3 million mark in off-course betting while the on-course figure was over $900,000.
A fortnight later Hawke's Bay staged another bumper raceday on the Hastings track when a 12-race programme on a Thursday turned over $1.4 million in off-course betting.
It was New Zealand's best non-feature mid-week turnover recorded all season.
The club's New Years Day meeting again proved popular while the Hawke's Bay Cup meeting in April resulted in $1.5 million off-course betting and $240,000 on-course, both of which were up significantly on the previous year.
The specialised jumping day the club held in July was also a success while, on the downside, a heavy track and small fields at the May meeting resulted in the worst ever off-course betting figure posted by the club.
"Given the events of the season of highs and lows it gives me great satisfaction to announce a profit of $3491 after depreciation of $87,565," McGifford said.
McGifford said that, despite the downsides, the club was still able to increase stakemoney paid out during the season to $2.361 million, up $212,500 on the previous year.
"The Kelt Capital Stakes went to $750,000 and became New Zealand's richest race while the Ashwell Farm Hawke's Bay Steeples went to $40,000 and the Placemakers Hawke's Bay Hurdles to $25,000," McGifford said.
He added that over $100,000 in capital work was also carried out at the Hawke's Bay Racing Centre, the major cost being a total repaint of the outside of both grandstands.
McGifford said there were a lot of positives on the horizon with the New Zealand Racing Board injecting $10 million to support on-course raceday promotions in an attempt to try and attract people back to the racetracks and the forming of regional alliances.
The board of Hawke's Bay Racing Incorporated has remained unchanged, with those required to stand down by rotation being re-elected unopposed.
Executive member Sholto Matthews, speaking on the minutes of the previous year's meeting, said the sound system on-course was still sub-standard and needed to be fixed.
McGifford said the club was looking into ways of improving the sound clarity and, hopefully, it will be remedied by New Year's Day.
In general business Bill Lepper asked what it cost the club to hire the brush hurdle and steeplechase fences and would it work out cheaper if the club purchased its own.
McGifford said it cost $600 a day to rent the fences and the board is now weighing up the viability of purchasing its own.
Board member Richard Wood said that unfortunately the trainers' bonus scheme will not be operating this season, mainly because the sponsor had not received sufficient support from people in the racing industry.
Kevin Wood queried the cost of admission fees to Hastings race meetings and wondered whether the money received justified the expense of having staff collect the money and count it.
McGifford said the club received $17,000 in admission fees for the Kelt Capital Stakes raceday at a cost of well under $1000.
He added that Hawke's Bay Racing now only has paid gates on five of its 14 racedays.