Hospice Cup alarm

The Wanganui racing fraternity has challenged New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) to justify its omission of the Wanganui Hospice Cup from the draft dates for next season.

The interim dates for the 2013/14 season reveal the traditional October (Labour Weekend) date allotted the Wanganui Jockey Club has been given to Otaki, which would seriously affect the fundraising community Hospice Cup day.

Waverley Racing Club president John Boon and treasurer Bill Thurlow, both horse trainers in their own right, have struggled to see the logic in transferring the date to Otaki _ or any other club.

``It would be a sad day if Wanganui was to lose the Hospice Cup meeting. It is a great community day in Wanganui and raises funds for an extremely worthy cause,'' Thurlow said yesterday.

``Everything is already in place to attract people who would normally not bother going to the races.''

NZTR company secretary Simon Cooper has been quoted as saying while he couldn't say why Wanganui may lose the date, there was an emphasis on ``maximising returns'' to the racing industry. He also said the draft dates were not set in stone.

Thurlow questioned whether Otaki, or any club given the date, could improve on the returns Wanganui had regularly generated on the day for years.

``Otaki would need to put on something special to attract non-racing people like Hospice Cup day does in Wanganui. I really can't see any major improved turnovers if the date finally goes to Otaki. I think the Wanganui club should challenge NZTR and its programming committee to justify the decision _ get them to show clearly how returns to the industry will be maximised.''

Boon agreed and could see no valid reason to shift to Otaki.

``Wanganui has a pretty strong case to lobby for the date to be retained,'' Boon said. ``They already have the structures in place to attract the crowds and Hospice is such a worthy cause, a cause everyone can relate to.''

Meanwhile, Wanganui's Evan Rayner, who has trained at least three Hospice Cup winners with daughter JJ Rayner, said the decision was like ``shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic''.

``When a club like Wanganui makes a success of a particular raceday like Hospice Cup day, others want to jump in and take it. It's always been a real community raceday that brings people to the track and raises much-needed funds for Hospice.

``I really don't think it's a good look for racing ...'' The Rayners prepared Beau Dane to win two Hospice Cups and Betcha Wood to win one. Ironically, Betcha Wood was part-owned by the late Ian Strachan, a great supporter of Hospice Wanganui for years.

The Wanganui Jockey Club has until March 21 to gather evidence to show there is major community support for the date to be retained and is urging people to fill in submissions forms, email words of support to info@wjc.co.nz or call into the office on-course. Submission forms can also be downloaded from www.hospicewanganui.org.nz and both organisations Facebook pages.