Editorial: Sundays a rank outsider for Whanganui

As one of those who has enjoyed a great Saturday's racing - and a great day out - at the Whanganui course, I feel a little miffed with the New Zealand Racing Board's idea of shifting one of our major events to a Sunday.

It is not that "I don't like Sundays", but for race-goers it is generally true that Saturday is the day to party and Sunday is the day to recover.

More pertinently for the Wanganui Jockey Club, it will almost certainly mean a smaller attendance and less money flowing from the punters which, in turn, means less money flowing to the club.

There is something contradictory about the Racing Board's re-jig of the race dates - a re-jig that has seen most of the big guns of the industry line up in opposition.

The proposal includes switching Whanganui's popular spring meeting, which includes the H S Dyke Wanganui Guineas and the O'Leary Fillies, to the sabbath. These races are ranked as the more prestigious black type listed events which the board, itself, says should be run on Saturdays.

And the aim of the board's calendar shuffle is to boost income - that is, increase TAB turnover. However, the switch at Whanganui is likely to have the opposite effect.

Rather than being on the same day as another major meeting, which has the effect of stimulating betting all round, Whanganui's spring event may line up alongside a lesser meeting, prompting punters to shrug their shoulders, close their wallets and head to church.

The Wanganui Jockey Club was seemingly rewarded for its hard work over the past season or so when it received an upgrade in venue status from a "Supporter" venue to "Significant".

The Racing Board's own guidelines suggest benefits should come with that upgraded status, including Saturday meetings.

The Jockey Club and a number of others will be lobbying for the board to have a re-think. Let's hope they are successful.