The Corner with Garry Chittick

Mary and I attended the races at Pukekohe ten days ago. I enjoy Pukekohe; I like being able to sit where you view the track on a slight angle as the horses approach the winning post. Of course, I enjoyed it even more when both Smart Love and Magice won their respective events.

However, when I cast my eye around the racecourse boundary, I realised how privileged we were that our forefathers had put a stake in the ground so many years ago, how somebody with a passion for our sport initiated the development of a racing venue. Imagine, the Ellerslie racecourse was established in 1857, and Wellington at Trentham in 1873. On-course Tote wagering, 1881.

Now, I don’t intend to become emotionally maudlin about the past, but perhaps those of us that enjoy our sport at these venues should remind ourselves the development, defence, and use of our venues nationally remains a privilege. Imagine the current value of Ellerslie, Avondale, Te Rapa, Trentham, Riccarton and so on. In my view, the defence of our ownership where they are so beneficially located is imperative.

There is the danger of new Administrators lacking the passion for our past; it is easy to imagine how the result of any dispersal could be used. However, the likelihood of a reinvestment as strategic as the current venues is unlikely. I can tell you two the end result of a large injection of capital. There may be a replacement venue, but a lump of the new capital will be used to fill a working capital shortfall. Hey presto, gone!

Our Totaliser, in 1951, the Thoroughbred Clubs of NZ were required to guarantee the capital required – 50,000 pounds – for the Government of the day to grant the wagering license. The recent debate as ownership, prior to Entain, always remained neutral, as so long as the codes were the sole beneficiaries, it didn’t really matter. It only mattered if there was to be a sale. Now I won’t spend a paragraph on the Entain involvement, but once again, it was a privilege for the codes to have an exclusive wagering license, only to let it slip between our fingers.

Is that a good result or bad, only time will tell, but I will bet you that some of the capital gained will be used to top up current accounts’ shortfall. Then what?

Owning land such as Waikato is a privilege, it requires a great deal of intestinal fortitude to retain it on occasions. I really hope we have directors guiding our future who have similar attributes, clearly, as with all endeavours, there will be mixed moments, retaining what’s of true long-term value is a responsibility that’s worth the fight.

Cheers,
G

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