Overdue investment in racing at Awapuni now paying off

The arrival of British betting giant Entain on the racing scene could be like mana or money from heaven for Manawatū racing. Only a year ago, it was hard to find too many positives when Awapuni was mentioned with the past two Boxing Day meetings shunted to Ōtaki because the track either wasn’t up to scratch or was being rebuilt.

Entain’s arrival and takeover of the old government-owned TAB appears to have turbocharged racing. With the increased prize-money, older horses are staying in the game because of it.

One race likely to come to Awapuni is the New Zealand Oaks and by 2026, a mere two years away, the stake for that race could be as high as $1 million with first place reaping $580,000.

The Group 1 Oaks is usually run at Trentham but that track will be shut down for three years for refurbishment once Awapuni is running. Since Wellington is part of the RACE organisation, Trentham’s big races will be transferred to Palmerston North.

The giant stakes should not only be attractive to owners but a million-dollar race should surely attract ordinary folk trackside. The TAB wasn’t capable of innovation, couldn’t afford new technology and its clunky app crashed two weeks ago so it will be replaced by a new one from Australia.

When the new Remutaka Classic was run over 2100 metres at Trentham on Wellington Cup day this year, carrying a stake of $350,000, it attracted 42 nominations for 14 starters.

The prime carnival at Awapuni each year is around the Sires Produce Stakes – the sole Group 1 race held there. In two years’ time, the stake for that race alone is predicted to rise from $350,000 to $650,000.

The total stake for the five main races at that meeting last year was $920,000 and this year it will be $1.195m, and by 2026 $1.375m – unheard of figures. The other four lesser races add about $200,000.

As far as RACE chief executive Tim Savell is concerned, it’s all going in the right direction. Not long ago, land had to be sold to make ends meet.

Land in the wider vicinity of the Awapuni course has been bought and sold three times, while land sold in a fire sale 10 years ago abounding Te Wanaka Rd and Shirriffs Rd has been bought back.

Even so, racing somehow needs to get back to having free-to-air TV coverage which is stuck on Sky out of sight of many.

Getting publicity for racing these days is a tough gig with mainstream media virtually ignoring it and the only recourse for punters is to go online.

Savell took over 2½ years ago during tough times, almost thrown in at the deep end. The Awapuni track was failing and in almost a horror show, meetings were cancelled for safety reasons and racing people are notoriously unforgiving.

The last race there was September 28 and since then the bulldozers and diggers have ripped the track apart.

The cost of the massive course renovation is $5.2m, a quarter paid by RACE and the rest funded by New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing.

Where the Foxton Racing Club, 37km away, has a natural sand-based profile, the Awapuni people are predicting their conversion will transition from river silt to a similar sand-based carpet. Previously, the track was level with Totara Rd on the Manawatū River side of the course.

Now there will be a camber around the course, as on a highway, which will help drainage and should prevent horses slipping as they had been at Awapuni.

Where there had been four irrigation systems, big money has been spent installing one which is computer-controlled and can be activated from the turf manager’s cellphone. It’s reputed to be able to tolerate 18mm of rain an hour, where previously light drizzle caused problems.

The reconstruction is about 80% complete before the first grass is sown in autumn, when they will pray for rain. The corners have been widened from 18m and 21m to 25m and the straights will be 28m.

A new racing manager, Brad Taylor, joins RACE on April 1. Originally a teacher from Dunedin, for seven years he has been racing manager for Freedman Racing, whose horse, Without A Fight, won the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups last year.

His partner joining him is Palmerstonian Jayne Ivil, a former jockey and TV racing presenter in Melbourne. Both are former Trackside producers.

Meanwhile, Awapuni has three tracks within the course, including the synthetic track which was laid last year and allows racing in winter.

From May, there will be nine meetings and, without the artificial track, Awapuni might not have been able to cope with the more than 200 horses that are trained there.