Racing: Training facilities brace for influx of racehorses

Racehorses can start training at public tracks from tomorrow.

Northern horse racing bosses are confident their facilities can safely handle a flood of horses as public training tracks reopen at Covid-19 alert level 3 tomorrow.

Almost all the north's main horse racing training facilities in thoroughbred and harness racing will see their first horses back in training since the country went to level 4, and that could quickly see 1000 more racehorses north of Taupo by next week.

The training and even racing of horses is permitted at level 3, although the latter may prove irrelevant, as no horse racing is programmed until May 29 (harness) and July 3 (thoroughbred racing), by which stage New Zealand could be at level 2.

Strict Covid-19 protocols from several Government agencies have to be met before the training tracks can open, and the clubs which run the tracks are certain they can operate safely.

"We are implementing all the Government protocols as well as our own," says Cambridge Jockey Club chief executive Mark Fraser-Campin.

"And we will make sure they are heavily enforced."

Fraser-Campin expects up to 400 horses could soon be in work at Cambridge, although many trainers have indicated they will stagger bringing their horses back into work, which will help with the initial adoption of the protocols.

Cambridge also have special protocols around the construction of New Zealand's first synthetic track, which had been ahead of schedule before lockdown.

"We already have a 10m buffer zone between the construction of the new track and the two other tracks we are using for safety reasons," Fraser-Campin says.

Matamata Racing Club chairman Dennis Ryan says 400 horses would usually be in work at Matamata at this time of the season and he expects plenty back this week again, with some being drip fed back into training as basic services such as horse transporters and farriers resume full-time work.

While the thoroughbred industry can start phase one of their return to work tomorrow, they still face a wait of more than two months before returning to the races because lockdown means many horses will need that time to return to race fitness.

Harness racing will need less time as they have more horses who have stayed fit on private training tracks but nearly 300 horses can potentially rejoin the northern horse pool when Franklin Park (Pukekohe), the Cambridge harness track and Scott Reserve (Morrinsville) open for training tomorrow.

Northern officials are confident they can get the numbers to hold the first northern harness meeting scheduled for Cambridge on May 31.

"It might only be six or seven races, probably mobile sprint races to make it easier on the horses, but we know everybody wants to get back to racing," says Cambridge chief executive David Branch.