Plaque honours Orari racing history
A plaque dedicated to commemorating the long history of horse racing in Orari was unveiled in an official ceremony on Saturday.
Project manager Roger Payne said the unveiling was ‘‘blessed with good weather’’ with ‘‘a good crowd turning out to honour this history’’.
The plaque commemorates the first horse race meeting in South Canterbury on April 1, 1859 – 162 years ago – as well as the long history of the Orari and Geraldine racing clubs.
Payne said it was ‘‘an amazing thing that horse racing appealed to the early settlers’’ as the sport was seen in England at the time as the ‘‘sport of the King’’. Payne also emphasised the importance of the Orari and Waimate runs to horse racing in the area, with horses first brought to the area for agriculture.
Payne pointed out that the racing clubs in the area predated the formation of the South Canterbury Rugby Union by 19 years.
Payne has a personal connection to racing in the area, as his father was a trustee of the horse racing club for 25 years, and his grandfather ran horses in the area before him, winning the 1947 Timaru Cup, an achievement that is itself noted on a plaque at the Phar Lap Racecourse.
The plaque was unveiled by Timaru mayor Nigel Bowen, along with Geraldine Trotting Club president Mark Weaver, South Canterbury Racing Club president Noel Walker, and Rosie Morten and Michael Studholme, representatives of the Orari and Waimate estates respectively.
The plaque was funded 50/50 by the Geraldine Trotting Club and the South Canterbury Racing Club and sits at the Timaru District Council Memorial Site on the corner of State Highway 1 and Orari Station Rd.