The horse racing industry has proposed shutting down seven race tracks and 12 other venues to keep the sport alive.
The independent Project Stamina report – commissioned by the TAB – found the horse industry’s spending was spread too thin across 63 venues.
The governing bodies for thoroughbred and harness racing have now joined forces to implement many the recommendations as a ‘One Equine View’.
That includes shutting down 19 venues, including seven race courses such as Wellington’s Trentham.
Other courses that would stop holding race meetings were Rotorua, Manawatū, Wyndham, Gore, Hāwera and Ōamaru.
Business cases would be made for five other venues, with the remaining 39 venues kept running.
But the industry bodies said the One Equine View was only a proposal and marked the beginning of the next phase of engagement “rather than the end of the conversation”, it said in a statement.
Call to close tracks to save horse racing industry
Checkpoint
“Doing nothing is not an option,” NZ Thoroughbred Racing chair Russell Warwick said.
“Our infrastructure must reflect today’s racing landscape and be capable of supporting future growth. This plan gives us the opportunity to invest where it will deliver the greatest long-term benefit for participants, horses and the wider industry.”
Harness Racing NZ chair Grant Jarrold said it was “not simply another review”.
“It provides a unified direction that links strategy, investment and implementation, giving the industry greater certainty about the future,” he said.
NZ Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Matt Ballesty told Checkpoint the plan was to ensure the future of the industry.
“The industry’s been around for a hundred-plus years and we want it to be around a hundred-plus more,” he said.
“Unfortunately, with race tracks and courses being such huge canvasses, the cost of running them or doing any sort of investment is huge. We don’t have an infinite amount of funding and we need to make sure the money we do have is spent in the right areas.”
But he reassured clubs that the decision was not final.
“Project Stamina is not something that happens tomorrow, it’s a living, breathing document,” he said.
“I made a phone call this morning to the clubs that are affected, and I did that as a courtesy. Some of these clubs have been around for a very long time and they’ve served a very important purpose.
“We’re not saying that they go tomorrow. What we’re saying is the report’s identified that we need to sit down and have a discussion and talk about the long term future of that venue.”
NZ Thoroughbred Racing and Harness Racing NZ said meetings would be held with the affected clubs.