NZ racing suffering due to state of tracks
WHETHER New Zealand Racing industry officials want to acknowledge it or not, the future and the safety of racing in New Zealand is under serious threat.
2016 was another disappointing year for racing in New Zealand after trainers, jockeys, owners and punters were forced to witness abandonment after abandonment.
These cancellations not only cost the financially-struggling clubs money, but it became such a common occurrence that with even a drop of rain, punters expected the meeting to be canned.
It became somewhat of a comedy throughout 2016 – one local journalist even described New Zealand racing as an “embarrassment”. The comedy that is NZTR (New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing) sadly became a tragedy during the Summer Racing Carnival after southern jockey Rebecca Black sadly lost her life at Gore.
In the racing industry, accidents can be avoided. How can a track used only a couple of times a year be properly managed and safe for horses and jockeys?
New Zealand has 52 active racetracks – for a country of only just over 4 million people, that is far too many tracks which is what’s creating the chaos to begin with.
Why does New Zealand need so many racetracks?
New Zealand doesn’t need 52 racetracks and that’s a point the smaller race clubs will have to stomach if racing is the survive.
The problem is that there are so many small race clubs such as Gore, Kumara and Thames (which had to cancel its only meeting of the year due to a small amount of rain), which spend money on upkeep of their tracks for very little gain, or none at all.
Racing loves a battler and turning your back on the smaller clubs won’t be easy, but it’s the only way forward for New Zealand racing.
One of the best racetracks in New Zealand is Ellerslie and it hosted under 25 meetings in 2016. That’s a far cry from the likes of Flemington, Caulfield, Randwick and Rosehill in Australia which are frequently used each week.
New Zealand has four main centres; Auckland, Waikato, Wellington and Christchurch. All four districts have one major racetrack which is up to international standard, and the rest of the tracks in New Zealand aren’t up to scratch.
Even Awapuni, considered one of New Zealand’s best rural racetracks, has had multiple abandonments in 2016 which left punters outraged.
With Ellerslie (Auckland), Te Rapa (Waikato), Trentham (Wellington) and Riccarton (Christchurch), New Zealand racing has more than enough resources to host two major meetings each Saturday.
There is a counter point to be made that racing will lose its casual and family-orientated racegoers, but with so many meetings being cancelled because of unsafe track conditions, moving these meetings to the main racetracks is a no trainer.
New Zealand Racing stays stubborn on the issue
A former trainer in New Zealand spoke up about the unsafe nature of New Zealand tracks – he was subsequently sued by New Zealand Racing chief executive Greg Purcell.
New Zealand Racing continues to be stubborn about the condition of racing surfaces and even though jockeys are paying for it with their lives, the powers that be seemingly don’t care.
Mr Purcell stated the following after the Awapuni Boxing Day meeting was transferred to Otaki due to track conditions.
“Despite remedial works being undertaken [at Awapuni], we thought it best to make a decision early with abundant caution, rather than making it late and missing the meeting going ahead,” Purcell said.
So why would Purcell continue to state that the only reason meetings are being abandoned is because of separate incidents.
“Do I believe all tracks are safe? Yes, I do,” Purcell said. NZTR wouldn’t allow racing on them if they weren’t.
“The reason the races have been called off is because there has been an incident or issue that has led to a decision that the track isn’t safe for racing.”
There has been an incident at these racetracks because they don’t have the funding, nor the resources to maintain the track at a safe level. Since when has a meeting at Te Rapa or Ellerslie been cancelled due to an unsafe track?
Purcell did, however, say that changes needed to be made as the public frustration continues.
“I understand the level of frustration from the public and participants,” Purcell added.
“We want people to participate and invest in our sport and if they’re not confident the tracks will be presented in a safe and reliable fashion, it’s going to undermine people’s confidence about investing and participating.”
Manawatu Racing Club president Paul Humphries said the following about the Awapuni track.
“The course was presented in a safe nature. That was our view,” he said.
So who is at fault here? Is it the smaller clubs which don’t have the resources that the likes of Ellerslie and Riccarton have? Or is the NZTR which think it’s OK for New Zealand to race on 52 racetracks, most of which aren’t up to scratch.
If the death of Rebecca Black wasn’t enough to shake up the industry’s leaders, what’s it going to take?