Racing clubs in battle for lucrative race date

Taranaki eyes Stratford's New Year's Eve meeting

A fight is brewing between two of the region's racing clubs over the prime New Year's Eve meeting date.

Taranaki Thoroughbred Racing has applied to the New Zealand Racing Board to hold a meeting on December 31 next year, the date usually reserved for the Stratford Racing Club's sole annual race meeting.

The move is part of a plan for the New Plymouth-based club to hold a mini-carnival over the festive season, with two meetings held – one on December 27 and the second on New Year's Eve.

Stratford officials are believed to be furious at the move after TTR committee members travelled south earlier this month to inform their racing neighbours of the plan.

While SRC president Brian Forbes could not be contacted for comment yesterday, he is believed to have thanked TTR chairman John Gray for informing the club of its plans before telling him the Stratford committee was disgusted by the proposal.

Stratford, which has been embroiled in its own controversy for close to a decade over the blackballing of potential members, has been allocated the December 31 date for more than 15 years.

Former presidents Murray Blue, Jim Gilbert and Len Caskey were earlier this year banned from holding any positions in a racing club for their involvement in the blackballing.

The meeting is the club's only significant source of revenue and usually attracts a crowd of about two to three thousand people.

TTR chief executive Carey Hobbs said there were several reasons behind the move. The most important was the fact the club had received feedback that there were several other Central Districts clubs looking to add that date to their schedule.

Because Stratford was the only club in Central Districts that was not a member of the area's cluster group, it would lose its December 31 date to any cluster group club that wanted it under the policy of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing.

"We feel it is extremely important to keep that date in Taranaki," Hobbs said. "That's why we have applied for it."

Hobbs was confident TTR could attract significant numbers of spectators to the two meetings.

"We don't think we'll get any more or less than Stratford did. We've explained our reasons to Stratford and we understand they will be dead keen to retain it."

TTR was formed in July after the Taranaki and Opunake racing clubs merged. It has several high profile members on its board, including district court Judge Allan Roberts and prominent New Plymouth trainer John Wheeler.

- © Fairfax NZ News