Marlborough’s spring dates believed safe for a while

Press, 17 September 1987, Page 55

Marlborough’s spring dates believed safe for a while

By

DAVID McCARTHY

The thought is expressed with relief rather than enthusiasm by club officials at the moment but there seems little danger of the Marlborough spring dates being lost to South Island racing in the near future. The small fields at the recent two-day meeting, and what appeared to be marginally successful turnovers, may tend to suggest holding a spring meeting is not a formula for the club’s future success but in fact there are no plans to change. "Our financial result would be no worse than for our autumn meeting given we paid out 17 stakes instead of 20,” said the club secretary, Michael O’Brien, referring to an eight-race programme on Monday.

On-course turnover on the second day just topped $lOO,OOO after a surprisingly good $114,000 on a first day, on Friday, heavily affected by rain.

“Just about any club down here can clear expenses for a meeting on

off-course betting. Our big problerti is attracting more horses. To do that we have to raise stakes substantially and we would be no better off then over all, then we are now,” Mr O'Brien said. The two day spring meeting was introduced a few years ago when Marlborough carved up their three day autumn meeting in order to resume circuit racing with the troubled Nelson club. Ironically Nelson has thrived under the new order but Marlborough’s spring dates have remained marginal. One of the club’s biggest concerns is the decline in patronage by Canterbury stables at the meeting. Last year Canterbury visitors made up over 45 per cent of the fields and that dropped to 33 per cent this time. It is possible it will drop further as Canterbury trainers reason there are better alternatives to travelling so far to clash with northern stables. The problem for the club is that there is a plethora of racing in the

Central Districts in the spring and northern horses of much class are difficult to attract

In some ways the club feels. that southern trainers could be more enthusiastic. “Trainers rallied quickly earlier this year when a day at Westport was in jeopardy. If our days are ever lost it will probably be because they have not supported us. The costs are quite high but not nearly as much as northern trainers are up for with ferry fees included,” Mr O’Brien said.

The club was helped to some extent this year by the shifting of Timaru’s September date but Canterbury owners and trainers would probably point to increased racing opportunities close to home through September and October as a factor in bypassing Waterlea. There seems little chance of the club returning to Saturday racing as some have advocated. Club executives in both Blenheim and Nelson claim racing Saturday or weekday has little effect

on public attendance and so the off-course betting "carrot" makes midweek dates more attractive.

It must be said that crowd figures in recent years, in both codes, support the theory. In spite of the short programmes with small fields and perhaps less attractive to the average bettor than many meetings, - the Marlborough club feels it Is in good heart. Certainly the new president, Mr Kelly Thomson, has proven a dynamic leader. Perhaps most heartening of all, considering history not greatly distant, there is a strong bond of friendship between the Marlborough and Nelson clubs. This has been brought about by a number of factors including the clubs sharing the same secretary and a determination on the part of each committee that racing is a sport in which combined promotion will ultimately help both clubs. It is that spirit which is likely to see the Waterlea spring meetings continuing for some time yet, in spite of what the statistics indicate.