Big ‘thrill’ for a real racing thoroughbred
Allan Fenwick had no idea what was coming when he checked the mail at his Marton home last week.
It came in a crisp envelope, more ‘‘official-looking’’ than most, but just another envelope in the pile.
As he opened it, he pulled out a piece of paper telling him he was about to be made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his long service to New Zealand horse racing.
‘‘That was a very unexpected. It was a huge surprise and a thrill.
‘‘I’m pleased to think thoroughbred racing is being recognised and I was one of the people lucky enough to be identified for that recognition.’’
Over the past 54 years, Fenwick has grown from an enthusiastic youth watching from the stands to a man deeply involved at almost every level of New Zealand horse racing.
Fenwick has served as chief executive of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, as a member of the International Cataloguing Standards Committee representing the Asian Racing Federation, and a board member of the TAB and the NZ Racing Authority.
He still works passionately to honour the industry’s past, with continued advocacy and support for the Racing Hall of Fame, which began 11 years ago.
Fenwick has en eye on the future too, through his work with the Central Region Apprentice Academy and the NZ Equine Research Foundation.
‘‘I’m probably too fully immersed to be honest. I’m very fortunate to have the support of my wife Susan, who has been very supportive right throughout my career.’’
Susan Fenwick also came from a horse training family and shared her husband’s love for horses and racing, something they’ve passed to their three children.
‘‘Through us, racing has been a huge part of their lives, and to a greater or lesser degree, we’re all racing tragics,’’ he said.
One of his most lasting memories was cheering from the stands in 1963 as Great Sensation won his third Wellington Cup in a row. He’s still one of only two horses since the turn of the 20th Century to win the cup three times.
But it was watching local Manawatu and Rangitikei legends from the 1960s and 70s, like Grey Way and Copperbelt, or ‘‘jumping horses’’, like Kumai, at the Awapuni Racecourse, that truly sparked his interest.
Fenwick said he was fortunate to become part of Awapuni Racecourse’s ‘‘huge racing tradition’’. As a centrally located racecourse, it has for years attracted some of the biggest names in New Zealand racing.
‘‘I was very fortunate in my early days to be mentored by Bill Freeman, then manager of the Manawatu Club, Herrick Perry, Jim Bull from Rangitikei, and Jack Bennett, a former chairman of the Racing Authority and the TAB.’’
You can learn a lot by listening to the stories of those who’ve gone before. Circumstances change, but the lessons often stay the same, he said.
By 1993, those lessons had helped Fenwick begin a 12-year tenure as chief executive of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing.