KEY POINTS:
New Zealand involvement in the annual Interdominion transtasman harness racing series could be about to end, with any withdrawal likely to be announced next month.
Harness Racing New Zealand (HRNZ) yesterday confirmed a New Zealand Herald report that it was considering whether there were "strategic advantages" in promoting its own events rather than the Interdominions, which go to either Auckland or Christchurch every four years.
The two premier harness-racing clubs in New Zealand are likely to pull their support.
The Auckland Trotting Club, which races at Alexandra Park, and Metropolitan Trotting Club, based at Addington, near Christchurch, are believed to be unhappy with the direction the series is taking.
They are also unwilling to continue paying the annual fee to the Interdominion council, especially as the voting structure gives them less power than a tiny harness-racing state such as South Australia.
After representatives from the clubs and HRNZ met yesterday, HRNZ released a statement.
"The New Zealand harness racing industry is considering whether there are strategic advantages of concentrating on developing and promoting New Zealand's own feature carnivals versus a series which is only held in New Zealand once every four years," the statement said.
"Currently the New Zealand industry is contributing $320,000 annually to the stakes of future series. With annual increases and administration costs, this represents a significant investment for the NZ industry."
Yesterday's meeting agreed no changes would be made until a meeting of the Inter Dominion Harness Racing Council in Adelaide next month, when the future structure of the championships will be considered.
The series, which covers pacers and trotters, was first run in 1936. New Zealand champions such as Cardigan Bay and Lyell Creek have won the series. It came to New Zealand last year when it was dominated by local horse Elsu at Alexandra Park.
For decades it was harness racing's holy grail but has lost some of its lustre as other feature races have caught up, and some even overtaken it.
- NZPA
