Cup-winning mare now Horse of Year
Levin Racing Club awards pretigious title to Hinepara
Hinepara has been named Levin Horse of the Year. Prepared at Levin by trainer Josh Shaw, the mare joins a list of fine horses to have their names etched on a cup.
Previous winners of the award, instigated in
1988 by the late LRC committeeman and
Levin TAB owner Paul Pearce, were horses like Our Maizcay, Shuzohra, Sapio, Candide, Cinder Bella, Lady Madonna, Sandsend, Rock On Wood, Keisano, Lordship, Empyreal, Dolcettoa and Sculpter.
Hinepara, who has a team of Levin-based owners, won the award by virtue of her win in the $120,000 Wallen Concreting Avondale Cup (2400m) at Ellerslie in February.
Fewer horses are trained at Levin now compared with in the heyday 1980s, with between 40 and 50 training each morning, but there is always the promise of another good horse around the corner.
Shaw was presented with the cup at the LRC’s annual general meeting, held at the Levin Cosmopolitan Club at the weekend.
The LRC elected a new president and committee at the AGM, with longtime president Bruce McCarrison standing down, to be replaced by Levin-based businessman and horse trainer Mark Goodwin, and with Daryl Baker elected as vice-president.
They would be joined on the committee this season by Kevin O’Malley, Illone Kelly, Reah Mason, Oliver Bau, Tracey Preston and Paul Williams.
There were 110 votes submitted by members present at the AGM, a marked increase in those that attended the corresponding meeting last year as the club experiences a renaissance.
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing CEO Bruce Sharrock, who spoke at the AGM at the invitation of the LRC, said he was heartened by the turnout.
Sharrock attended the meeting to outline some of NZTR’s objectives and to answer questions from members about the future direction of racing in person.
Fewer horses are trained at Levin now compared with in the heyday 1980s, with between 40 and 50 training each morning, but there is always the promise of a another good horse around the corner.