He added that he has been having a regular Zoom hook-up with Hawke's Bay Racing chairman Eliot Cooper, finance board member Tim Gillespie and racecourse manager Richard Fenwick.
Asked when he thought he might be able to move to Hawke's Bay, Balcombe said it was all up to the Government at this stage.
"I've got a rental property jacked up and it is just a matter of getting the all-clear to move up there."
In a press release two weeks ago, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Bernard Saundry said New Zealand Racing will not recommence until July 1 and that is only on the proviso that New Zealand comes out of alert level 4 on the due date of April 22.
Saundry also said that race tracks could be open for training on May 1 and Balcombe said that is still likely at Hastings.
"We are all in a holding mode at present but once it goes to an alert Level 3 things can change," Balcombe said.
"There will still be a lot of restrictions in place but at least we may be able to get things started up again."
Yesterday (April 14) the Racing Industry Transition Authority (RITA) was to release the dates for the proposed return to racing for the rest of this season, from July 1 to July 31.
New Zealand's three racing codes, consisting of gallops, harness and greyhounds, were today expected to release the proposed dates for the first four months of the new season, from August to November.
This will be subject to funding and the development of a full season draft calendar is expected to be released in mid-May that will encompass the three-day Hawke's Bay spring racing carnival.
"There are varying draft dates for Hawke's Bay race meetings, but they haven't been confirmed yet," Balcombe said.
"The spring carnival is still pencilled in at this stage but there may be a slight change to the second and third day dates, which could see them pushed back slightly."
While some race tracks may
"They want to concentrate on where the biggest horse populations are for a start and so that could mean that, for the month of July, racing in the central districts could be confined to Awapuni and Wanganui," he said.
The Hawke's Bay Cup, one of the club's iconic races, was to be staged last Saturday and with a new sponsor.
Balcombe said at this stage, there has been no talk of re-scheduling the race for a later date.
"With the lack of racing planned in the limited calendar it could be hard to schedule it in," he added.
Aussie racing keeping TAB going
Australian racing, especially the major meetings on the east coast of that country, is providing the New Zealand TAB with a much needed life-line as it struggles to come to terms with a huge loss in revenue.
Dean McKenzie, the chairman of the Racing Industry Transition Authority (RITA), said in an interview with Trackside presenter Aidan Rodley, that the cessation of sports betting and New Zealand racing due to the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that the TAB has lost between 75 per cent and 80 per cent of its product.
"Australian racing, certainly the eastern seaboard where the key metropolitan meetings are being run on a Saturday and Wednesday, are our backbone at the moment and still bringing some cash in the door," McKenzie said.
"We are still losing money of course but, when that quality racing is still the staple diet, it gives you some hope that we can keep the wheels of commerce turning a bit longer.
"We are just taking each day as it comes and are hopeful that the Australian product will remain. We've still got some product from Hong Kong but once racing goes from the eastern seaboard of Australia, the cupboard is pretty bare."
When asked what he thought the New Zealand racing scene will look like post the Covid-19 crisis, McKenzie said there was an opportunity for the industry coming out of this.
"Collectively, as an industry, we have to get together and work together to make sure we reduce our costs as much as possible."
McKenzie indicated less race tracks will be used in the immediate future and those that are used< for racing on>, will be close to participants and close to horse supply which will reduce travel and other costs.
He also said the TAB was doing its bit to cut costs.
"We've got to lead the way on this as we are the body where the revenue for the industry flows from. We take that responsibility seriously and it's got to start with us."
He said the TAB had reduced contractors and started to only use salaried staff and that both he and the chief executive had agreed to take pay cuts several weeks ago. Those pay cuts have also been followed by the board and executive team.
"We've got to work together to solve the problem and we have to embed this culture into the future of New Zealand racing because that is the only thing that will sustain us through the tough times ahead and actually make us grow."
Bosson on both Kiwi hopes
New Zealand jockey Opie Bosson will ride the two New Zealand-trained entrants at tomorrow's Randwick meeting in Sydney.
After enjoying a golden run in Sydney that has seen them pick up five Group 1 wins and other black type placings, the only Kiwi representatives tomorrow will be Quick Thinker in the Group 3 $A140,000 Frank Packer Plate (2000m) and Not An Option in the Group 1 $A400,000 Champagne Stakes (1600m).
Quick Thinker, from the Cambridge stable of Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, is dropping back in distance after scoring an impressive win in the Group 1 ATC Derby (2400m) on the Randwick track a fortnight ago and that followed a win in the Tulloch Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill.
Bosson knows the So You Think colt well, having not only ridden him in his last start but also when he finished second in a 1400m race at Hastings in February.
Not An Option will carry the hopes of Cambridge trainer Tony Pike in the Champagne Stakes, where Bosson will have to overcome the outside barrier in a 10-horse field.
The son of Not A Single Doubt pleased his connections with his first-up effort in Australia, when third in the Group 3 Kindergarten Stakes (1100m) on the Randwick track a fortnight ago, and Pike said he has trained on well since.
"We were really pleased with his run in the Kindergarten," Pike said. "Over the 1100m, from the outside gate and to go back to last, it was always going to be a bit sharp for him. He was very strong over the final stages.
"Reports are really good and he has bounced through it in great order.
"He galloped on the course proper at Rosehill on Tuesday morning with an older country cups horse and worked really well over 1200m.
Not An Option hasn't been tested over further than 1200m, but Pike believes the 1600m will be ideal for him on tomorrow.
"He is bred to get over a little bit of a trip and we have always thought once he can stretch out over further it would really suit," Pike said.
"It gives him a chance at a Group 1 race in Australia and improved track conditions will help him on Saturday as well.
While Pike is looking forward to tomorrow he said a further Group 1 target awaits Not An Option in Queensland.
"If he runs well on Saturday we will probably wait and go straight into the JJ Atkins (1600m) in Brisbane.
"That will give him time to get over the trip up there and I might just give him a quiet barrier trial in Brisbane before the JJ Atkins."
Meanwhile, the autumn campaigns of Pike's two other Australian raiders The Bostonian and Sherwood Forest have come to an end.
The Bostonian had a near perfect campaign, having won the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) first-up last month before a solid runner-up effort in the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m).
"He had done a great job in his two runs over there. We will bring him home and we will set him up for the Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) in Sydney at the end of August."
Sherwood Forest will join his stable mate in the spelling paddock after a successful campaign which included victory in the Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) before finishing unplaced in the Australian Derby (2400m) after a tough run.
"It was a very tough run for him in the Derby, but he never gave it away," Pike said.
"He has had a long, hard season and has done a great job for us. He will head to the spelling paddock and will come back to New Zealand when we are able to get them back on a plane."
