Gore club to fight closure proposal
If the Gore Racing Club is forced to stop racing at home, it will disband and sell its assets.
Two thoroughbred race tracks in Southland – Gore and Winton – are under threat of closure after findings in the Messara Report were released this week. However, the Gore club is not moving. ‘‘If we can’t race here, we’ll disband, sell our assets and give the money to the Gore community,’’ Gore Racing Club president Justine Abernethy said.
‘‘That’s our worse scenario . . . it’s in our constitution that we can do that.’’
Abernethy, who is the first woman president of the club, said she was surprised at the track being earmarked for closure.
‘‘I wasn’t expecting it.’’ Messara toured the country looking at racecourses but his brief visit at Gore didn’t impress Abernethy.
‘‘He was here for five minutes, drove behind the grandstands, never looked at the track or facilities.
‘‘It completely amazed me. You can’t make a decision [on a track’s future] in five minutes.
‘‘I thought the decent thing to do was to have a talk with us.’’
Abernethy said the Gore club was prepared to ‘fight’ to continue racing at home.
Messara described the Gore racecourse in his report as ‘‘fair location. Average infrastructure.’’
Money from asset sales would be given to the Gore community, Justine Abernethy said.
Racing minister Winston Peters commissioned Australian John Messara to compile a report on New Zealand’s racing industry and give recommendations on ways to rationalise it and return profitability.
One of the recommendations was to close 20 of the 48 thoroughbred tracks in the country and upgrade the others.
Messara recommended thoroughbred race meetings at Gore and Winton be shifted to Ascot Park in Invercargill. The report recommends the Winton Jockey Club moves its annual race day to Ascot Park next season, while the Gore Racing Club fixtures are recommended to be at the Invercargill track in the 2024-25 season.
The Tapanui and Wyndham Racing Clubs, which race at Gore, are also recommended to shift meetings to Ascot Park.
Winton Jockey Club president Howard Clarke said he would not be making hasty statements about the recommendation to close the galloping track at the Central Southland Raceway.
He wants more information on the reasons for closure other than what Messara’s report stated – ‘‘Fair location. Below average infrastructure.’’
Clarke said the club would hold meetings internally soon to discussion the recommendation. He also plans to contact the chief executive of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Bernard Saundry for more information.
‘‘I do have a lot of questions . . . how did they come to this decision?
‘‘We need to take a breath, get more information and work from there.’’
Like many in the industry, Clarke agrees the industry is not in good shape and measures, nationally, have to be made. The Winton Jockey Club has spent $400,000 on upgrading its galloping track and installing an irrigation system in the past 10 years.
Trainer Stephen Blair-Edie was shocked at news of the Gore track facing closure. Blair-Edie, who trains a large team of horses at Birchwood in western Southland, said the Gore track’s irrigation system was probably the best in the lower South Island.
‘‘It’s proven and really effectively in the dry season.
‘‘I doubt if John Massara would know about Gore’s irrigation system.’’
Wyndham Racing Club president David McKenzie said he would help the Gore club to fight off the threat of closure. ‘‘I’ll definitely be supporting them.’’ Massara’s report says Ascot Park was, ‘‘good location. Requires demolition of public grandstand and rebuild of a new facility, some renovation of course proper, improved other facilities and landscaping’’.