Editorial: Racing club running on right track

Lost this week amid the grave news from Asia and the doleful weather was the passing of a summer institution. It was the final racing of the Auckland Cup at Ellerslie on New Year's Day after many decades of being the centrepiece of holidaymakers' statutory holiday. In the northern part of the country, at least, it was the second-biggest attraction for that quaint old bach, camping ground, pub or social club "sweep" after the Melbourne Cup. At Ellerslie it was often a carnival, with full carparks, picnics and improvised cricket among the children.

And now, it is gone. Gone from the summer holiday, with the New Zealand Derby, the main event of Boxing Day, to a new home in the racing calendar from March next year. The Auckland Racing Club has been bold enough to confront sentiment and heritage in the interests of making both events bigger and, of course, more financially lucrative. Major events rely increasingly on corporate hospitality to boost the number of attendees and to create an inspirational motivation for people to attend; an added social demand that has been difficult to fulfil on New Year's Day because many of those who would populate such affairs have sensibly been out of the city - on holiday.

At the track last Saturday the combination of cold, threatening weather and the absence of the real crowds who might be expected at a Group One race of such standing, seemed to underline the racing club's thinking. The infield was thinly covered, the public grandstand busy but not crowded. Even the members' stand was speckled, not jammed, with fans. It was a reasonable crowd but not of a scale befitting one of the country's premier racing (or sporting) contests. For all that, the racing was thrilling, from the daring 50 to 1 upset ridden by Michael Walker to Bazelle's victory in the Cup. Racing's appeal remains that raw contest between impeccable athletes, and the joy of rider, trainer and owner when victorious.

The move to March should bring back the crowds as part of a week-long carnival akin to Canterbury's show week. Corporate high-flyers and their guests will be no further away than their offices or homes, the appeal of lunches, marquees and competitive betting sure to stimulate interest. On the evidence of the past month, the ARC might well expect the weather in March, even though in autumn, to be somewhat more stable and, it is to be hoped, warmer than this past week. Sunhats and not umbrellas might brighten the trackside crowds.

For some, the removal of these two big events from the summer statutory holidays will be a wrench. Racing, like rugby and beer, is a habit for many. The club is promising new events, which it hopes will create their own legends, and if the stake money and the fields can be found, the punting public is likely to respond. Ellerslie is convinced that racing needs to change fundamentally to regain its popularity and success. The club, after years of in-fighting, is under new management and moving rapidly to find a new generation which will see the racecourse as more akin to a visit to the Viaduct during the America's Cup than to the public bar on a sad Saturday afternoon. Part of that strategy is to entice women to the course, transforming it into a destination centre in competition with other leisure attractions.

There are those in racing who believe such changes are essential to stop an industry that employs 28,000 people suffering terminal decline. Giving racing its equivalent of a rugby Super-12-style overhaul is, though, a risk in itself. The Super-12 is a vastly costly enterprise which to some minds has begun to wear thin and is blamed for changing - and weakening - traditional strengths in the national game. Change, fizz and glamour can only go so far. Punters will continue to demand the highest-quality fields in races administered fairly and transparently and with decent chances of a return on their investments. The indications are that Ellerslie is on course to offer them all that, and more.