WELLINGTON - A concentration of feature race meetings at Trentham is among the initiatives in the formation of Capital Racing, a new umbrella group incorporating the Wellington, Otaki-Maori, Levin and Masterton clubs.
The formation of the group was confirmed in Wellington last night. The Wairarapa Racing Club was also involved in early discussions but subsequently withdrew.
Capital Racing means that the 27 meetings conducted by the four clubs will be spread between Trentham (14) and Otaki (13).
Some of the lower key Wellington fixtures will be switched to Otaki while some of the higher profile fixtures previously run at Otaki will switch to Trentham.
This includes the Otaki-Maori's premier day in February which includes the Auto Auctions Weight-For-Age (1400m).
The Levin club's Bayer Classic meeting in November will remain at Otaki this year but could be switched to Trentham in future years.
Levin manager Ian Cowie said this would depend on obtaining a suitable Saturday date as well as agreement with the sponsor.
"We did look at moving it this year but we were unable to get a Saturday date," he said.
Wellington chief executive Mary-Anne Edwards said the formation of the alliance was a significant change for racing in the central districts and represented a new level of co-operation and support among clubs.
"The four clubs have considerable strengths and there are great benefits in working more closely together," she said.
"It's about pooling those strengths to increase horse numbers, attract and retain trainers in the central districts and, consequently, increase betting turnover."
Capital Racing will have it own board which will be chaired by retiring Wellington president Rod Preston. The four clubs will each have two representatives on the board.
"One of the key benefits from the alliance," Edwards said, "will be a joint approach to licence negotiations to ensure the best possible allocation of licences in terms of timing, placement and funding classifications of each venue."
Each club will remain responsible for running their own race days but with the support and resources offered by Capital Racing. Each club will share in the overall profit of the year's race meetings on a preset formula.
It is envisaged that racing operations will be centralised at Trentham from December with highly-regarded Otaki-Maori racing manager Butch Castles in charge of racing.
The new Capital Racing board will comprise: Rod Preston (chairman) and Ron Dixon (Wellington), Arthur McGill and Tom Jamison (Otaki-Maori), Maurie McCall and Mark Goodwin (Levin), Brendan Meo and Ray Southey (Masterton).
- NZPA
Racing: Capital Racing to fly the flag at Trentham
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