Awapuni is one racetrack to have experienced recent track troubles. Photo / Race Images
New Zealand’s two horse racing codes are set to join forces to plan for the future.
The thoroughbred and harness racing codes were once considered staunch rivals. Despite plenty of cross-over between owners, punters and trainers, the two codes used to compete for turnover.
Those days are all but gone, with harness offering little competition on thoroughbred racing’s biggest days, while both codes benefit from a stronger overall turnover at the TAB.
At present, racing’s percentage of TAB profits is also shared with greyhound racing. But that code is now slated for extinction next July, after the death sentence handed down by Racing Minister Winston Peters in December.
That decision is being challenged by Greyhound Racing New Zealand, although it may not get to argue its case in court until as late as next March.
The other two codes, commonly known as “the gallops” and “the trots”, have announced they will work together on their infrastructure issues and which tracks are likely to survive the next five years.
Racing’s ageing infrastructure is one of its greatest concerns, with abandoned meetings on tired tracks costing the industry tens of millions in lost turnover and eroding owner and punter confidence.
So NZ Thoroughbred Racing and Harness Racing NZ have launched Project Stamina, supported by the TAB, which will work towards answering the infrastructure questions hanging over the industry.
Some of the biggest questions will be around the Waikato Greenfields project, the almost certain closure and sale of Avondale and the troubled Central Districts, where Hastings and Awapuni have had serious track problems and Trentham may need a new grandstand that it cannot realistically afford.
In harness racing, the Auckland region will need a new training track once Franklin Park at Pukekohe is sold and, with so many potential projects looming, the two codes are better working together, especially when applying for funding from the TAB or the Government.
Project Stamina’s main purpose, according to NZTR chief executive Matt Ballesty, is to move from “reactive maintenance to long-term, future-focused investment”.
That could mean no longer fixing tracks that don’t work or will eventually be closed, and instead spending money on those that make long-term financial sense.
Working out which tracks are which, overcoming parochial bias and building a cohesive and affordable plan is a mammoth undertaking.
Ballesty and HRNZ boss Brad Steele say they plan to use consultants initially, but are quick to emphasise that their boards will be making the final decisions, with input from TAB NZ and the new TAB Advisory Committee, which contains some of New Zealand racing’s biggest players.
Working together makes sense for the two codes as it ensures a sharing of information and what each hopes to achieve, especially important as they already share some venues and could end up working together on others.
“We have reached a critical point that calls for bold decision-making,” says Ballesty.
“Project Stamina is about making the necessary decisions to ensure our infrastructure supports a thriving future for horse racing in New Zealand.
“Working alongside Harness Racing NZ and TAB NZ, we have a chance to build something enduring and unified.”
Steele echoed those sentiments and saw the potential in code collaboration.
“This is a chance to reshape our future. Collaboration is key to creating venues that serve our people and our sport for generations. It’s time to build infrastructure that matches our industry’s potential.”
Project Stamina is supposed to have a “first draft” of what the future of racing infrastructure may look like by December this year.
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.