Horse racing: Rennovated track ready in January

Racing at Tauranga is due to resume in January next year following a $400,000 renovation of the track.

It was thought racing could resume at Tauranga in November but Racing Tauranga chief executive Jim Watters said it had been decided to take a more cautious approach.

"With what was the wettest autumn in 40 years, the project was approximately 10 weeks behind schedule in its completion and we do not want to take any risks with our return to racing at Tauranga," Watters said tyesterday.

"It will be necessary to run trials on the course before holding a full race meeting, and to race in November we would have to trial in October which is an unrealistic target, even with Tauranga's climate."

The track renovations have involved the complete re-levelling of the entire track, including widening to provide a 22m to 25m racing surface, re-cambering of the bends and laying more than 12km of drainage.

The first meeting at Tauranga will be its holiday meeting on January 2.

- NZPA