Royal race book finds purpose
A race book from an infamous meeting that never happened is now helping feed former racehorses more than three decades later.
Addington Raceway was polished and primed for a royal visit from Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana on April 27, 1983, but on the eve of the Royal Meeting, heavy rain arrived and put paid to the Wednesday night event before any of the nine races could be run.
The race book, complete with royal themed names for each race, remains in good condition 34 years later and is being auctioned off to raise funds to support the rehoming of former standardbred racehorses. It is one of nine charity auction items listed on StandardbredAuction.com to support Canterbury Standardbred Recycling and Rehoming (CSRR) a group of three volunteers who take on former racehorses until they can find a suitable home.
All nine of the online auctions close at 8pm on Friday.
The auctions are running parallel with Friday night’s Stand Up For Standardbreds fundraising dinner at The Cashmere Club.
Stand Up For Standardbreds, which has been sold out for months, features stand-up comedy from Kiwi comedian Cohen Holloway and a charity auction.
All profits from the nine online auctions and the more than 40 auctions at Stand Up For Standardbreds will go to a feed account to support the work of CSRR.
Stand Up For Standardbreds event organiser Jess Smith, a broadcaster for Trackside Radio and TV, said the funding for feed supplies would make a massive difference to CSRR.
Smith said it was not unusual for horses to be in the care of CSRR for up to six months and that obviously came with significant feed costs to the volunteer group.
The race book, donated by Bob Neave of Rakaia, is thought to be extremely rare and has a current bid of $50 but is not the only item of interest in the online auction.
Also attracting plenty of attention is a framed and signed set of colours from champion trotter Monbet’s 2016 Harness Jewels victory and a rare piece of Phar Lap memorabilia.
The Flemington Onslaught features a framed set of finishing photos from Phar Lap’s four biggest victories at Flemington. The current bid is at $75.
It is not just racing memorabilia in the online auction.
Crusaders star Israel Dagg has donated his signed 2017 training jersey to the cause. The jersey comes framed and is currently at a bid of $110.
A 2015 Cricket World Cup polo shirt signed by Sir Richard Hadlee has a current bid of $120.