“When the track was pulled up we saw the drains on that home bend just weren’t working,” explains Taylor.
“But that wasn’t the only issue and the whole track was pulled up and re-laid.
“The track now has a better camber and the drainage is so much better.
“It has been a long process so we are thrilled to be back.”
Relaunching a newly-laid turf track can be a nervy process in this age of way too many race meeting cancellations but Taylor and his team are confident the Awapuni track is ready to go back to work.
“I’d estimate we have had 500 horses gallop over the new surface,” he explains.
“We have had jumpouts and trials and we have around 200 horses trained here using it for at least some of their work.
“So it has had a lot of hooves go over it and the reports are all really positive.
“We had 30 horses gallop here on it on Tuesday and even after a fair bit of rain their riders were saying it was no worse than a soft 6.
“The main change is the drainage. We now have lateral drains that go right across the track and it has changed every thing.”
The relaunch will be highlighted by the $80,000 Manawatū ITM Anzac Mile featuring Group 1 winner He’s A Doozy while there will be an after party to celebrate the return of grass track racing to the track.
The new surface will have another grass track meeting next month before the turf track is rested for the winter, with the synthetic track to be used.
But the new, improved Awapuni could be in for two huge Group 1 bonuses next season with the last two legs of the Group I Triple Crown usually held at Hastings almost certainly heading to Awapuni.
With the future of the Hastings track still under a cloud the draft calendar for next season tentatively has the first of the G1 treble, the Tarzino Trophy, down to be run at Ellerslie before both the 1600m and 2000m legs being staged at Awapuni.
The 1400m Group 1 being held at Ellerslie makes sense as it is closer to the elite horse population and that race can sometimes be used as a launching point for trainers wanting to head to Australia.
But the latter two legs being staged at Awapuni would keep Group 1 racing in the Central Districts for spring, if in fact that draft of the calendar becomes the official version at the next New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing calendar meeting in May.
While the Triple Crown of Group 1s being moved to Ellerslie and Awapuni may alarm Hawke’s Bay racing fans, the Herald understands NZTR will make an announcement in coming weeks about the future of racing at Hastings.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
