The Kāpiti Express will return to Ōtaki for another tilt at the Ōtaki Cup after finishing third last year.
The Kāpiti Express will return to Ōtaki for another tilt at the Ōtaki Cup after finishing third last year.
Holiday racegoers will get a rare chance to watch both gallops and trots when the two codes combine for the first time at the annual summer race meeting at the Ōtaki-Māori Racing Club tracks in early January.
But the dual-code race meeting, which could see as many as 14 races on the card on January 4, has only come about due to an about turn by Harness Racing New Zealand.
Earlier this year HRNZ had scrapped harness racing at Ōtaki when releasing the racing calendar for the 2020-2021, with plans to centralise all North Island racing to racetracks in Auckland or Cambridge.
Kāpiti Coast Harness Racing Club secretary Chris Craddock said the reinstatement of one of their traditional two racing dates made sense, as did combining with the gallopers.
It was good for harness racing and the profile of racing in the area, and the meeting was always profitable with traditionally large crowds attending.
Kāpiti Coast Harness Racing president Chris Craddock (left) with the Wellington Trotting Cup presented to connections of the winning horse Boyz Invasion at the corresponding meeting last season.
"We fought hard to keep harness racing in the Central Districts. It's a popular summer meeting and the only grass track harness racing in all of the North Island," he said.
Craddock said he was delighted as the prospect of hosting a dual-code meeting and said the Ōtaki-Maori Racing Club were supportive of the idea.
"It is anticipated that there will be a minimum of four harness races on the programme, with a potential eight galloping races to follow," he said.
"Depending on the amount of nominations there could be as many as 14 races."
OMRC general manager Ben Jamieson said it made sense for each code to work together.
"We've got a really good relationship and see it as being a reciprocal relationship. You have to stick together," he said.
Craddock said the track provided a brilliant grass surface for standard-breds and gallopers after an extensive grass resewing programme and track drainage work done by the Ōtaki-Māori Racing Club in recent years.
A miniature harness race last season at the popular summer meeting held at the Ōtaki-Maori racing club.
Jamieson said it was picnic meeting and expected family groups to take advantage of the grassed area along the home straight. Children had free entry and gates open at 10am, with the first race at 11am.
He said there will again be free activities to occupy children, including a bouncy castle, face painting, drawing competition, fun run events, treasure hunts, lolly scramble and pony rides.
Meanwhile, the feature harness race at the meeting on January 4 is the $12,000 Ōtaki Cup for the highest graded pacers.
There would be plenty of local interest as a locally owned horse called The Kāpiti Express who is heading for the Ōtaki Cup, a race he placed third in last year.
The Kāpiti Express will return to Ōtaki for another tilt at the Ōtaki Cup after finishing third last year.
The Kāpiti Express is syndicated and raced by many members and supporters of the Kāpiti Coast Harness Racing Club, including Craddock.
