Racing: ATC will maintain high stakes

Auckland Trotting Club has taken a stand against stakes cuts in harness racing by maintaining their record high stakes for the new season.

In a move that will pleasantly shock many in the industry - especially after recent reports of doom and gloom - key stake levels at the club's 24 meetings are set to stay the same.

Maidens at Friday Alexandra Park meetings run by the Auckland Trotting Club will still race for $10,000, along with some conditioned races, while class one and faster non-conditioned races will remain at $15,000.

That means the club's normal Friday night stakes for one-win and faster races will be close to double that of any other club in the country.

The stance was confirmed at an Auckland Trotting Club board meeting this week and came as a shock after tenant clubs at Alexandra Park have had to cut stakes because of new regulations surrounding gaming machines.

That prompted reports of widespread cuts at Alexandra Park but ATC president Rod Croon said that simply won't be the case.

"The change to the gaming regulations will affect us and a lot of other clubs but we have to do our best to maintain our stakes minimums because that keeps the industry viable for many people," said Croon.

"By staying at the $10,000 and $15,000 levels owners and trainers can bring their horses here knowing a win or two or even consistent placings means they can make money racing their horses at Alexandra Park."

Croon said the ATC would look at the stakes for some of its banner races, like the Auckland Cup, rather than take the money from the wider base at the bottom tier of the industry.

"There are a lot more people with maidens and one-win horses than open-class horses and we want to keep providing them with the best opportunities."

That policy means the Auckland Trotting Club's stakes for lower-grade horses remain the highest in Australasia and should ensure the constant flow of South Island-trained talent which has proved so successful in the last 18 months.

The Herald understands the recent cuts to stake levels for tenant clubs, which has seen stakes at Alexandra Park at their lowest level for years, could improve significantly in the new season.

While the stakes for tenant clubs, which provide about half the Friday night meetings at Alexandra Park, will not reach the ATC levels, the new stakes structure has some unlikely positives.

In recent years, smaller trainers have complained about how hard it is to win races at Alexandra Park on a Friday when one-win races are flooded with talent from the Mark Purdon, Geoff Small, Barry Purdon, Reid-Rogerson and Tony Herlihy stables.

That is one reason Cambridge, even with lower stakes, has often attracted comparable, or even bigger, fields to Alexandra Park.

But the Auckland track will basically now provide two tiers of racing, with the biggest stables and best horses attracted to the ATC meetings, while those who struggle to earn money there get their chance at the tenant club meetings.

Helping boost the latter will be the handicapping rules, under which free wins for two and three-year-olds mean stars like De Lovely and Devil Dodger will still turn out at tenant club meetings under the right circumstances, as fields in the past week have proved.

LOTS AT STAKE
* The Auckland Trotting Club has confirmed its record high stake levels will be maintained in the new season.
* That means Friday night maidens will still race for $10,000 and one-win horses for $15,000.
* That will cover around half of the Alexandra Park meetings on Fridays.
* The stakes remain the highest in Australasia.