Following the abandonment of the last two days of Hawkes Bay Spring Carnival, and subsequent notice from New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) that no racing will be held at the Hastings racecourse until renovations to the track have been completed to a standard acceptable to the industry, Hawkes Bay Racing has announced that some big changes are needed to ensure the club’s ongoing viability.
The first day of the carnival, on September 7, was a success and the racing surface was described by participants as perfect.
However, a horse slipped, on the bend going out of the home straight, in race one on the second day of the carnival, on September 28, and the remaining eight races on that programme were abandoned.
NZTR then made the call to transfer the third day of the carnival, Livamol Classic Day, to Hamilton’s Te Rapa track in October.
Subsequent to these decisions NZTR informed Hawkes Bay Racing that, until the track had been renovated to an acceptable industry standard, no further racing would take place at the track.
The combination of those decisions has had a huge financial impact on Hawke’s Bay Racing. The Hawke’s Bay Spring carnival produces approximately 75 per cent of Hawke’s Bay Racing’s annual revenue.
Hawke’s Bay Racing is now in the throes of making some hard decisions to ensure the viability of the club going forward, both from a financial perspective but also a Health and Safety perspective.
The latter is a result of a recent Health and Safety Risk assessment which identified some unacceptable risks to the Board of the Club’s float-park, which in the Board’s opinion makes it no longer fit for purpose.
It will mean the selling of the float-park on Southland Road, an adjoining property next to the present Hastings racecourse, and also selling two blocks of land on Railway Road that the club purchased two years ago.
New Hawke’s Bay Racing chairman Richard Riddell informed an assembly of approximately 80 members at last Tuesday night’s annual meeting of this news.
Riddell said the Risk Assessment report spelled out the dangers involved in leading horses across such a busy road and as a consequence there were health and safety, operational and reputational risks identified.
These risks led to the decision that the Hawke’s Bay Racing Board made at their meeting on Tuesday to cease using the float-park and to set up a temporary float parking area inside the racecourse, until a suitable permanent area can be established.
Riddell said the current float-park, which also has a house on it, will now be put up for sale and indications are there will be good interest in the property.
Riddell told the members that Hawke’s Bay Racing is currently experiencing some short term liquidity issues but the Board was implementing strategies to alleviate this problem.
“Hawkes Bay Racing has two blocks of land in Railway Road which were potentially part of a relocation project but, following further due diligence, the Board made the decision not to proceed. The club wishes to thank the Hastings District Council for their assistance with the due diligence process,” Riddell said.
These properties are now on the market and Riddell said they will be sold in the New Year.
Hawke’s Bay Racing also owns a seven acre block of land in Wall Road, which is used by trainers for the stabling of their horses. Selling this property is not a preferred option at this stage.
Riddell said Hawke’s Bay Racing will be staying at its present location and would like to resume racing on its racetrack as soon as possible.
“But we do have problems with the track that have to be addressed,” he said.
He added that a report is now being tabled with New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing as to what needs to be done to get a safe and desirable outcome.
Riddell added, “New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing has confirmed Hastings is a strategic metropolitan venue for the future and is being very supportive with getting racing back here as soon as practically possible, and we will hopefully know what is required before Christmas.”
Asked how such a venture would be funded, Riddell said the club will have a better idea in the New Year, but it will require substantial industry support.
Barry Smyth, a former Hawke’s Bay Racing Board member, agreed that there is an obvious need to sell the Southland Road float park, for health and safety reasons, and the two blocks of land in Railway Road but he would be reluctant to see the club sell off anything else.
Smyth said there is a need to get all the East Coast racing clubs on board to ensure racing in Hastings can go forward and there needs to be a plan put in place involving all parties.
Riddell agreed and said Hawke’s Bay Racing will be looking to follow up on an offer made to the Waipukurau Jockey Club, some time ago, saying his Board will be formally inviting the Waipukurau club to nominate a delegate to sit on the Board of Hawke’s Bay Racing. He added that NZTR had indicated that they may also want its own representation on the Board if considerable development of the track is needed.
Smyth also asked if NZTR has accepted some of the responsibility for the club’s present financial position given that Hawke’s Bay Racing lost two of its biggest racedays this year.
Riddell re- emphasized that NZTR stated they were very supportive of Hawke’s Bay Racing.
Jim Harvey, a president of the former Hawke’s Bay Jockey Club, said a reconstruction of the Hastings racetrack was done many years ago, with the racing surface graded and cambered.
He added that cambering the corner, where the horse slipped on the second day of this year’s spring carnival, was never done fully but that a plan was drawn up and probably still exists to this day.
Harvey also pointed out that there has been a lack of communication between the executive of Hawke’s Bay Racing and its members in recent times and that the club had a responsibility to inform members of any decisions being made.
Riddell apologized for this and assured members that they will be kept informed in the future.
Hawke’s Bay Racing showed a loss of $359,913 for the 2023-24 year under review but this was mainly due to $842,670 being paid out in interest and depreciation, $582,870 of this being interest paid on the two Railway Road properties.
Also contributing to the loss was that the Lowland Stakes race meeting, on March 8 this year, had to be abandoned mid-way through the programme and two racedays in April were either cancelled or transferred to another racetrack due to renovations made to the Hastings racing surface.
On a brighter note the club’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization) measure of core profitability was $482,757 compared with $308,744 the previous year.
The three-day Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival in 2023 was the best on record and delivered three of the top 20 racedays for betting turnover in New Zealand for the season. The Livamol Classic raceday realised a betting turnover of $1.4million, compared with $1.1million the previous year.
Rent received from the club’s Railway Road properties and the house on Southland Road totaled $203,750.
As a result of the cessation of racing for now and the need to focus on the club’s development of its infrastructure the CEO, Aaron Hamilton, believes the club needs a different skill set to lead it forward and has tendered his resignation.
He has indicated he will be finishing in his position at the end of next month.
Other staff are either being offered employment elsewhere in the industry or working much reduced hours or have sadly lost their jobs.
Riddell thanked Aaron and all the staff for their dedication and commitment they have shown the club, and their understanding of the clubs predicament at this time.
Riddell said that whilst Hawke’s Bay Racing presently finds itself in a difficult financial situation now, the Board’s focus is returning it to being one of the best racing venues in the country.
Party Rocking’s connections celebrate again
Hastings-trained Party Rocking completed back-to-back wins with another dominant front running performance in a $40,000 race at Trentham last Sunday.
The Belardo four-year-old, prepared by John Bary, led all the way for a 3-1/2 length win in a Rating 65 race over 1200m at Wanganui at the end of last month and was just as impressive when outsprinting his rivals in another Rating 65 race over the same distance at Trentham.
Apprentice jockey Jim Chiung has been aboard Party Rocking in his last two wins and is building a great association with the horse. He bounced him out from an outside draw in Sunday’s race and quickly got him across to lead.
Party Rocking kicked clear at the top of the home straight and maintained a strong run to the line to hold out the runner-up Rubellite, with Moon Money a further 1-1/4 lengths back in third.
Party Rocking has now recorded three wins, a second and a third from 14 starts and has amassed more than $70,000 in stakemoney.
Bary purchased the horse for $42,000 from the Karaka 2022 yearling sales and has retained a racing share along with several others, including former Hawke’s Bay Racing Board member Tim Gillespie.