Crippling fees shut down Avondale

Ron Murphy (above) says the Avondale Jockey Club knows it is being frozen out, but 'we don't want to inflame that'. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The Avondale Jockey Club will close its gates to race meetings from July.

Financial pressure has been building at the once-proud West Auckland club, which yesterday announced it would hold its meetings - including the Avondale Cup, Avondale Guineas and Concorde - at alternative venues in the next 12 months.

Club president Ron Murphy said the AJC owed just $2.75 million, but it was the interest rates the Racing Board demanded, amounting to $261,000 a year, that were crippling it.

"Other clubs pay between 3 and 3.5 per cent interest rate and some pay 5.5 per cent. We pay 9.5 per cent," he said.

"We can't keep it going and we know we're being frozen out, but we don't want to inflame that, and hope to prove we can one day return to race at Avondale."

Six permanent staff were yesterday made redundant.

Mr Murphy is upset the racing board no longer considers the track to be necessary to the industry. "We generated $753,000 last year from our Sunday markets and the lease of the infield to the council for football and cricket.

"If we don't race at Avondale for the next year there will be a turnaround of $285,000."

He said the racetrack could possibly negotiate its way out of trouble, but there was no guarantee the board would give its race fixtures back.

The AJC has resisted suggestions to sell Avondale and centralise races at Ellerslie.