Fifty years of rugby, racing and beer
When a group of rugby mates came up with an idea in 1969 little did they know just what they had sparked. Fifty years ago Harness Racing New Zealand – then called the New Zealand Trotting Conference – allowed more than four people to share ownership in a horse for the first time. Twenty rugby mates pounced, they held a meeting at the Pirates Rugby Club in Invercargill to form the Setarip syndicate. The paperwork was lodged on September 19, 1969, before racing their first horse, Amyous Leigh, with trainer J J Burke. Fifty years on and the syndicate is still operational. In fact, it’s New Zealand’s longest-running harness racing ownership syndicate. Two of the original members – Joe Wilson and Clark Neil – remain in the Setarip syndicate, while relatives of the original members, or others connected to the Pirates Rugby Club, have stepped in to fill vacant syndicate spots when available. Today a 50-year syndicate celebration will be held at the Invercargill Harness Racing Club’s first meeting of the 2019-20 season. During the early days of the syndicate, the treasurer would read out how much the syndicate had spent in total and also how much in winning stakes it had generated. It was decided to stop that because it did not make for pretty reading, Wilson says. It’s fortunate the syndicate is more about the social camaraderie than chasing stake money. It took 11 years to get its first race winner, and another 13 years for the second. Wilson jokes the only people who have made money out of the Setarip syndicate are beer brewing companies. ‘‘It’s about coming out here [to the race track], meeting up, and having a few beers. Even if the horse finishes last it’s still a lot of fun.’’ The connection to the Pirates Rugby Club – which has since merged with Old Boys to form Pirates-Old Boys – remains evident 50 years on. The syndicate’s race colours are Pirates’ gold and black colours, while if you haven’t twigged yet the syndicate name Setarip is Pirates spelt backward. The syndicate has had 25 race wins over the 50 years with Quality Time, during the late 1990s, winning three races. All up the syndicate has used 11 different trainers, with the Barron family featuring predominantly. To help mark 50th celebrations today the syndicate will sponsor the feature race at Ascot Park and its horse, Black Ops, will line up in the final race of the day.