Flood ‘kick in guts’

Press, 15 September 1988, Page 39

Flood ‘kick in guts’

Ross Dixon, the secretary of the Greymouth Trotting Club, is “more than hopeful” the club will be able to race at Victoria Park Raceway in Greymouth next month, in spite of being flooded for the second time in four months. “The track itself is not as bad as last time and it is the feeling we should make every endeavour to race here on October 17 and 19,” he said.

“We’re lucky the relaying of the track from last time hadn’t been fully completed. We’ve been to the Labour Department today looking for workers to help get the place ready in time.

“This flood is really a kick in the guts for us,” he added. “We were heading in the right direction by injecting stakes, which had lifted by 50 per cent in two years.”

The club Is investigating the possibility of escorting a tour party of racing followers on a trip down for the October meeting.

Floodwaters rose to the top of the roof of the old stable block on Tuesday, and were four feet deep into the ground floor of the stands.

The club has put its claim into the insurers yet again but whether it will be able to race next month largely depends on whether the Racing Authority will help after the club’s misfortune.

“We’re hopeful the Authority will be sympathetic to our plight,” said Mr Dixon. The cost of resurfacing the Victoria Park Raceway after the May flood was estimated at $35,000, however, Mr Dixon said a count-up of damage from Tuesday’s disaster could not be assessed for some time yet.