Horse of the Year Hawke's Bay's council-appointed director and chair Cynthia Bowers says further recommendations from the Waterhouse review of the annual equestrian competition have been adopted and the event is looking in good shape for next year.
The review, written by Craig Waterhouse, was requested by the Hastings District Council after the week-long event recorded a loss of about $170,000 last year, put down in part due to the transition from event managers Eventpro to SMC Events.
It recommended that the council retain SMC as event managers despite their breach of a delivery agreement with HOYHB by not delivering budget, and in July this year the council gave HOYHB a cash grant of $170,000 to provide the company with cashflow and reduce the risk around some of the event's costs.
In speaking to the HOYHB annual report that was presented to the Hastings District Council yesterday, Ms Bowers said the board had been following the Waterhouse recommendations and addressed risk assessments and mitigation strategies.
"The 2017 budget is reasonably conservative and the board has recognised that there are two areas of risk - charitable trust donations have reduced by $67,000 [from last year] and we have put a modest figure on sponsorship."