IN NINETIETH YEAR

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 10, 13 January 1932, Page 6

IN NINETIETH YEAR

RACING IN WELLINGTON

[TRENTHAM CHANGE-OVER

Ihougli Wellington ni.ij not lwve been Jhe site of the his>t ulntc seltlemcut m J^ew Zealand, it has tne honom of having staged Avhat, w<>s piobably the fust lace fcneeting in the histoij o£ the new colony. Bmee the occasion of those Petom (Petone) Races on 20th Octobei, 1842, the sport has been an integial pait of the Jife of the settlement, boiough, and citj, land the records bhow that theio are verj Jew years, m the mtci\eiung puiod when ihere has not been, two 01 thi.ee gatherings at least between, the one lear and ;tKe ne\t. Meetings ivtjc at iii»t held in lanous Joeahties, but bj the time ot the cailj "sixties the Hiltt couise ■was recognised ps the mam convincing ground Latei on, and for * consideiable pait of the last quarter of the century, meetings -neie conducted, at othci com sea, as at Island JSay, a proprietaiy concern, and at Miraanar^wuer^ the ponies were the attraction, but the Wellington Club's Meetings at ."Hiitt Park Tveie the all-important gatherings. The Wellington Cup was the star item at the Paik though for a time there ■was a jso called SVclhngton Gold Cup on the Island Bay progiamme Eaily in the 'nineties the Island Bay meetings ceased, sind thts Hurt Park ivas rid of a not \erj peno'us rnal. In 190G the Wellington Club moved the locality of its meetings to Trentham, and theie aU Wellington sneetmgs Jiave since been hqld OLD HUTT PARK COURSE. 'L lie niture of the cd Hutt course about seventy jears ago is well shown by an <.\tract fioin a letter published a few years 'JbacK; TJie correspondent says.— •'''l remember the Hutt course in' its Sumudl state (th« time refened to -was •Maich, 18617. The running track was then \ery rough, with rushe- growing in bJI directions and a diain right across the course, over -which -there were culverts fcovered 'with river gravel. These eulfvorts were crossed twice in a mile race, and the- stones used to fly like bullets— the rear'division always faring \ery badly. I rode a match on the old course in 1864, thorefore I ,Lnow something about it. 'The road, or rather track, leading to Avainui-o-inata ran across the course, going on to it at the turn approaching the old etraight and leading at the lower end beJow the winning post. When a race was feeing run- the gates were shut, and, of Itourse, all traffic was stopped" 'ihe Hutt course was much impro\ed In later years, and until the beginning of the present centmy met all the requirements of r racegoers. Ihe fest Wellington Cnp on lecord. was contested- there in J874 and was won by -Mr. E. Campbell's three-yeai-old Castawa». _ The lace was at first run over •.wo miles, and remained as such till 1890 the first yeaim which Mr. G. Hunter's tuple" successive -winner, Cjnisca, then tuee-years old, was successful Since $u en > Ta ice has beett run over 1% milesJ.ne last hoisc to scoie on the Hutt tpuise was lanolher thiee-yeai-old, Mr G. G. Stead's Nightfall. Ml D. Boss's ?iye-j ear-old Ropa had the honour of winning the first Cup (1006) on the new .Irentnam course. CHANGE NECESSITATED. How inconvenient the old Hutt Park jtouise was_ becoming mny be gleaned irom the iollowwg prelude to the descnption °£.<S; e r?S n,? at the 1003 Cup Meetmg:The Wellington Racing Club was exfceedmgly fortunate, inasmuch as the leather, which was oveicast the pre\inus evening, broke line on Saturday (21st January). The club's patrons mustered an full .force,-.and filled the grandstand and enclosures, in such numbers as must ii.«e gladdened the heait of the secretary, Sir. A. I. Whyte. . . . The trains running to the couise were ciowded to Oveiiflowing1 a long tiftie prior to'the hour set down for their depaiture from the Wcliragton stations. The crus,h at the entrances, to the Pipe Bridget played havoc vith the dresses of the r i air sei.. All^inlonvOTnences, however, weio taken in good part and shortly after noon the lawn and saddling, paddock presented, an exceedingly gay appearance. The 'attendance was estimated at nearly 9000, 'and fltdoubtedlv constituted a record for the leomse. i l The change to tße new qnarters at flrentham. was made a year later for the club's Cup Meeting opening- on 20th January, 1906. Again there was ideal Jwetftfier, antj there was a crowd ab,ave all expectations. c • ' TO THE NEW COURSE. Referring to the inaugural meeting on the course, the "Referee" of that date has the following to say editorially:— ' "For many yeais the sport of racing suffered in "Wellington from the disadvantageous flositioir of the Hutt Park Racecourse, and the people of the Empire/ City did not patronise the meetuigs if theie was,-the possible chance of bad weather, ft was therefore- felt by the W.R.C. executive that suck an irapOitant metropolitan 'institution should do something to encourage local patronage, and1 at the same tmie;"pTace- the-leading racing club of a- laige district m a bettei position us regards the spoit. A new course was decided on,jind, town and countiy membei s of the eltltr loyally responding to the invitation, of the executive,, the work was put in hand; "At the opening of the Trentham Eacecomsc on 20th January the many who Jiad taken a. hand m the enterprise met with their first reward. Grand weather Mas experienced, and, as was confidently expected, theie was an attendance approaching a recoid, it being estimated that ovei 8000 people were present. Genejal aplpro-yal of the excellent dourse~and The magnificent buildings was expressed, and,' f though / 'not in quite finished condi"tiofr, the appointments showed that when v holly- Completed they will give the- Wellington Racing: Chib a racecourse up to date m etveiy paitioular, and second to Sone m the colony. -'"At-the official luncheon, Sir Joseph Ward, the Seoretarr, nroposinK the toast of the Wellington lUcwg CAib, Baid, hohrould like, as a visitor, to -express appreciation of the splendid appointments nnd the magnificent couiEe the club had piovided for its pations. "The club'b president, Mr. J. B Harcourt, said m leply that if the club had remained at the- JCutt it would have been necessary to have reconstructed the whole place, and the club would have had no claim whatever tor any buildings erected theie. In addition the failure of negotiations with the Hutt Park Railway had <onipelled the club to look elsewhere. The .Und for the new couise had cost £10 000 the buildings £15,000, and the railway JBccoromodation £2000 The- whole expend mtnre had largely exceeded £30,000, and /i emain for tlle Wellington sporting public tt> show its appreciation for all lhat had been done to give it facilities loi taking part m the national sport of the colony. "It -was rather unfortunate" the. ?ole-.Sereerj-r-articleieontinues;-. "that* the elec-.wiq-tptahsator;could not be -brought1 into thorough' working order for the meeting, *u > ;the -total investments for the Satur- ; day,;,\£23,729, showed that the people Resent; were in- speculative mood. Trtntihim being the-freehold property of the -club, ; -there were,no bookmakers at the .tneettng-, and for'the first time in its exist«nce^the:^W.R.C. Received the full benefit x>t the; racecourse: betting. The opening ot a new course is an exceptional circumptance^and with^uch a large number of •visitors i\big increase in totalisator busihess was naturally to be expected. Still, ..tire ngures show' 'once: again that Vacihe • cjtibs^ali ;dof- far. better without the book-t-makers fthaTi.;with them.'The success of tne betting on .the' opening, day was very marked.".;■;■■••..■•.'■.•■ i- •.; '■■■■::'.-. .-■