Hawke's Bay racetrack vandals make low-speed getaway on vintage tractor

Joy riders used the tractor to knock down this section of the track's riding rail. Photos / Clinton Llewellyn

Young joy riders in a stolen tractor ploughed through a section of the riding rail at Waipukurau Racecourse last Monday night, and caused minor damage to the track.

After stealing the Waipukurau Jockey Club's old blue Ford 3600 mowing tractor around 8pm and damaging the track and a section of rail, the youths then made a slow getaway in the 1960s-built tractor over Lakeview Tce towards the old Waipukurau hospital.

A short time later it crashed into the hospital fence and was abandoned. Two youths were later arrested after police were provided with a photo of the offenders, taken by a local resident.

After jockey club member Kirsty Lawrence posted about the incident on Facebook the next morning, a resident replied that she had heard a tractor being driven up Lakeview Tce that night by what "sounded likes kids, and not driving it very well".

Waipukurau Jockey Club member Brendan Lewis returning the stolen blue Ford tractor last Tuesday morning to the racecourse.

Club member Brendan Lewis had collected the tractor from police by 9.30am the next morning. He said the youngsters were obviously familiar with tractors, as it would not have been easy to start without keys and they had managed to remove a heavy roller.

He said the tractor's left steering arm appeared to have suffered some minor damage, probably caused when it was driven through the ditch on the inside of the running rail.

He joked it would not have made for a fast getaway vehicle.

"It's probably got a top speed of 30km/h."

Track manager Tony Ebbett said it would not take long for the dry, hard track to be repaired but he was thankful the incident had not occurred before the club's major Christmas race meeting, which was held the day before. He said the youngsters were lucky not to be injured.

"It's bloody dangerous. The [metal] rail is sharp and could have sliced their throats. And if they'd fallen off [the tractor] it wouldn't have stopped. It would have run right over them."

He was also thankful the youths had not targeted the new tractor recently donated to the club by Stevenson and Taylor.

"They wouldn't have been able to get into it as it was locked, but now we'll have to build a shed to lock them both up in."

CHB Community Constable Glynn Sharp praised residents for their response and for providing a photo of the culprits.
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"A fine example of neighbourhood support in action," he said.