Records at Waimate

Press, 14 July 1987, Page 31

Records at Waimate

By

DAVID McCARTHY

It was records all round at the Waimate Hunt meeting on Saturday, making it almost certain that racing in the district will continue for a good while yet. Fears for its future had gathered momentum since the Racing Authority removed one of the two permits retained on the track and decreed that both the Racing club and the Hunt club must share a July date in future. However, Hunt officials were quick to quash speculation they would shift operations to another track or close down completely. Warm dry conditions resulted in the biggest crowd seen on the course for twenty years with a turnover to match, giving

club officials new hope for the future. On-course betting of just under $99,000 may seem a moderate achievement by some standards but it represented a record for the Hunt club, which has topped SBO,OOO only twice previously in a decade, last year’s cold, wet day producing a record low of just over $53,000. Total on-course betting for the previous ten meetings was well under SBOO,OOO, a target major city clubs can topple at a single meeting. But Waimate is looking to the future rather than the past. “We want to go on and we get the feeling local people want us to go on,” said club president, Mr George Hennessy. “We believe the Racing Authority is placing too much emphasis on finan-

cial considerations in assessing the future of tracks and as a result we miss out on a lot of help available to other clubs.” A major problem confronting both clubs is how to organise next year’s meeting between them. “We agreed to get this meeting over with before discussing the next with the Racing Club. We should be able to work it out,” Mr Hennessy said. Local trainers are not so sure it will be as simple as that but they are anxious for the club to continue racing locally and maintaining the track as a training centre. “There are a lot of horses from both codes trained here,” said Mr Dick Langford, who holds a licence to train standardbreds and thoroughbreds. “We have got plans for a sports day and gymkhanas to raise funds to improve and maintain the track and we feel the community support is there for the racing to continue.” Judging by the buoyancy evident among club officials at the end of the programme on Saturday, they should get their wish.