New Zealand’s Hastings racecourse will be out of action indefinitely after increasingly frustrated officials chose to bring forward the reconstruction of the Hawke’s Bay track following a disastrous spring carnival.
The first of Hawke’s Bay’s three feature meetings went ahead without incident on September 7, but it struck trouble three weeks later when a horse slipped in the first race, prompting the remainder of the September 28 card to be postponed and the carnival’s crescendo to be transferred.
The Group 1 Arrowfield Stud Plate and the Group 2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas were run at Matamata the following Wednesday while last Saturday’s Livamol Classic meeting was held at Te Rapa while Hawke’s Bay and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing administrators debated the future of Hastings.
Poor drainage and the camber of the Hastings circuit are among some of the issues raised as to why it was unsafe for racing to continue there.
On Tuesday, in a joint statement, Hawke’s Bay and NZTR announced that the reconstruction was necessary in order for racing to have a future on the North Island’s east coast region.
“The decision reflects a commitment to addressing the underlying track issues for participants and horses alike,” NZTR chief operating officer Darin Balcombe said.
Hawke’s Bay chairman Eliot Cooper added: “While this news will be disappointing for the Hawke’s Bay community and racing enthusiasts, both parties believe that prioritising this project is essential for the long-term future of racing in the region.”
Hawke’s Bay officials and the NZTR board will meet later this month to determine the next steps in order to rectify the problems at Hastings while meetings scheduled at Hawke’s Bay will be transferred to other venues.
In the days after the Hastings debacle on September 28, outgoing NZTR chief executive Bruce Sharrock told the Guerin Report: “Gone are the days where we can rely on a group of volunteers to prepare a track safely because the health and safety requirements are so much greater today than they were a decade ago, let alone 50 years ago, that we need to get with the program and we need to collaborate and come together to make it work.”
NZTR is expected to confirm programming changes in the coming days.
Bren O’Brien
