Big race meeting pays tribute to top trainer
The racing community yesterday paid tribute to a Timaru horseman who died earlier this month, after a 28-year training career.
A remembrance race honouring 54-year-old Michael Daly and other ‘‘racing icons’’ who died this year was introduced at the South Canterbury Racing Club’s annual Christmas holiday meeting, club president Noel Walker said.
The meeting marks South Canterbury’s biggest race day of the year.
Daly’s death on December 4 left a ‘‘huge hole’’ in the club – so when a committee member suggested dedicating a race to him, ‘‘everybody backed it up’’, Walker said.
At any given time Daly, who suffered a stroke while riding trackwork in late October, was training about 20 per cent of Phar Lap Raceway’s horses in Timaru, including nine-race winner Turf Fire and Listed Warstep Stakes (2000-metre) winner Belmont Cat.
Walker said a good crowd watched the 10 races including Daly’s remembrance race, one featuring top Kiwi jockey Chris Johnson, and the Timaru Cup which yielded a $50,000 prize to the winner.
‘‘This is our main race day, and practically all of Timaru have turned out to support us.’’
More than 100 jockeys and horses took part in the races, Walker said.
The event also featured the Fashions in the Field competition with $850 in cash prizes, running and sack races, a bouncy castle, and lolly scramble.
‘‘There [were] kids all over the place, having a great time,’’ Walker said.
The club’s racing calendar was full next year – but following the Government-commissioned 2018 Report, which recommended closing the Timaru racecourse, they had lost two race meetings for the year following and anticipated that trend continuing.
‘‘We will certainly be contesting that,’’ Walker said.
‘‘There’ll be some adjustments.’’ The latest race meeting was just the third held this year, the Covid-19 lockdown having forced those scheduled between last December and July to be cancelled. This year’s second race day, in September, was closed to the public due to most of the country falling back into alert level 2.