After the demolition of its grandstand earlier this year it will be a new look Richmond Park that hosts the Nelson Trotting Club’s two-day meeting in January.

The meetings, that will feature both the Trevor Craddock Seddon Shields Trotting Series and the first ever Tasman Empress Series, will be held on Friday, January 9 and then on Sunday, January 11.

The Nominations/Withdrawals for Nelson (Day 1) on Friday, 9 January will vary slightly from usual practice with :

NOMINATIONS: close Monday, January 5 at 12pm
WITHDRAWALS: close Tuesday, January 6 at 10am

The track has been inspected and given the all-clear by HRNZ’s Track and Venue Inspector John Denton, with the last hurdle being the installation of temporary infrastructure in coming weeks. 

The 67-year-old grandstand was demolished in October. It followed an earthquake report in May with the Park’s owners the Nelson A&P Association opting for demolition rather than re-strengthening works.

The main feature of the infrastructure will be a raised 6m x 3m raised portacom on site. To be set up on scaffolding the portacom will house the judge, a race day official, the photo finish and the commentator.

There will be other portacoms on site as well, including changing rooms for drivers plus portable showers and other facilities so they are well catered for.

The sign-off for the portacoms will be undertaken in the days prior to the first day.

The meeting will feature the second and third legs of the Trevor Craddock Seddon Shields Trotting Series. The series has been named to honour the memory of one of the legends of West Coast racing. 

Trevor Craddock, who had 100 wins as trainer and was a life member and former president of Westport Trotting Club, died in October this year. 

The 10-heat series will be raced around the top half of the South Island before culminating in a $30,000 final at Addington on March 20, 2026.

To qualify for the final trotters must start at least four times on the Seddon circuit and at least one of those starts must be in a designated Series race. The first heat was won by Dreams Pat from Zoltan Boscik and Rush at Kaikoura on Monday, November 3.

Debuting in 2026 will be the Tasman Empress series for the lower to intermediate grade mares. There will be one $20,000 heat on each day, with a maximum of 12 runners in each. Both will run over a mile. The top five from each heat will qualify for the $35,000 final at Addington over 1980 metres on January 23,2026.

The meetings will also feature the Great Mayoral Challenge, with Nelson mayor Nick Smith going head to head with his Tasman equivalent Tim King in dual sulkies.

In preparation for the two day meetings the club has hosted working bees to ensure everything will be in tip top shape.

The club will kick off the weekend with their usual barbeque on the Thursday evening. It’s always a big hit among owners, trainers and supporters.

Anyone who has any queries about the Club’s two day meeting should contact erinkfox24@gmail.com