Harness racing in the CD and Dunedin given a reprieve and Avondale gets five dates back

Harness racing in the Central Districts and Dunedin has been thrown a lifeline with the announcement that the Manawatu Trotting Club and Forbury Park Trotting Club have been granted 10 meetings for the new season.

And in a surprising move the Avondale Jockey Club gets five dates back.

Detailed submissions from the clubs and other supporters have led to a change of mind by the Racing Industry Transition Agency which originally axed all harness meetings south of Cambridge and in Dunedin.

Palmerston North will host six full race meetings in 2020-21 with another four mini meetings, held in conjunction with the greyhounds.

The track will host three Tuesday-Thursday meetings on November 17 and 19, December 8 and 10 and March 30 and April 1.

The Tuesday dual code meetings will be trialled to assess whether they will work and be the platform for more widespread use in the future.

Also reinstated to the calendar will be the popular holiday picnic meetings at Tauherenikau, four races dual code with the gallops on January 2, and Otaki gets four races two days later.

Other changes include:

* Forbury Park in Dunedin, denied any dates in the draft calendar, gets 10 meetings back.

* Timaru, another track given no meetings initially, will race three times.

* The two-day Blenheim meeting is back in January

* Roxburgh’s annual January meeting is reinstated

* Gore gets one meeting to be raced on the grass on December 27.

The final programme of racing includes a number of changes from the draft calendar following careful consideration of 100 submissions which covered feedback on a range of topics from scheduling changes to the allocation of racing dates.

Other key changes in the final calendar are:

• Increased number of thoroughbred meetings from 273 to 278 and harness meetings from 246 to 257 (including dual meetings). Greyhound meetings increase from 459 to 478 with new six race programmes at Forbury and Ascot Park.
• Conditional reintroduction of five dates to Avondale Jockey Club and ten dates to Forbury Park contingent on the development of regional racing plans before December 31.
• Venues that were scheduled to have no racing in the draft but now will are Avondale, Forbury, Blenheim and Roxburgh.
• Marlborough (January) and West Coast (March) harness dates reinstated.

RITA Dates Committee Chair Edward Rennell said the final calendar was intended to maximise the benefit for the thousands of New Zealaders who rely on racing for their livelihoods.

“The significant effort, attention and passion that went into the submissions enabled RITA to develop a final calendar which we believe meets the immediate needs of racing next year and provides scope for the industry to address the critical need for venue intensification.

“Many of the submissions provided thoughtful and constructive feedback on specific issues in the original draft, however there was also general recognition that ongoing changes to the calendar were required. In several cases suggestions were put forward to develop solutions that are in the best interest of sustaining racing in regions,” says Rennell.

Licences allocated to Avondale and Forbury Park are conditional on regional reviews of racing in the Auckland and Dunedin districts being completed by the end of the year. This will allow the recommended outcomes of these reviews to be considered prior to the allocation of dates for the 21/22 season. RITA will also engage with the codes to ensure greater alignment with their future venue plans, including encouraging regional reviews to be undertaken in the Tasman, Mid Canterbury to North Otago and Southland regions.

The calendar is also based on delivering racing in an efficient manner to maximise returns to the industry. Changes to the draft calendar allow for increased dual race meetings, highlighted by the addition of Central Districts harness and Otago/Southland greyhound meetings.

“The development of regional plans for domestic racing will not only provide certainty for clubs and venues, it will also help strengthen the viability of the industry in New Zealand’s regions. The Committee strongly encourages all racing codes and clubs to have well-formed plans in place prior to the commencement of consultation later this year on the 2021/22 racing calendar,” says Rennell.

“In allocating dates for the year, the Committee’s focus has been to deliver a schedule that maximises the benefit for the entire racing industry, while also reflecting the unprecedented and ongoing impact of COVID-19.”

Venues which have not been allocated meeting dates in 2020/21 are Gisborne, Orari, Stratford, Te Awamutu, Te Teko, Waikouaiti, Waimate, Waipukurau, Wairoa and Wyndham.

The 2020/21 racing calendar will be available online in August.