A promotion that was launched on the opening day of the Hawke’s Bay spring carnival threeyears ago, now includes seven racedays, spread over two codes.
The TarzinoTrophy Daffodil Raceday at Hastings is still the starting point but the partnership between the racing industry and the Cancer Society has been extended to include spring meetings at Addington, Alexandra Park, Riccarton Park, Tauranga, Trentham and Wingatui.
“The Daffodil Raceday at Hastings has been a real success,” Janice Hill, General Manager of The Races Ltd Partnership, said.
“We became involved in 2014, when Hawke’s Bay Racing was looking for new ways to promote the first day of their carnival. The meeting was close to Daffodil Day [the CancerSociety’s annual appeal day], the New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB) supported it as part of its philanthropy policy, and a Daffodil Raceday was born.
“It has taken three or four years to build but we have been able to create something that isworking for everyone, It works for the Cancer Society, the club and the racing industry overall.
Other clubs have seen that and were keen to become involved.“It has been a true partnership involving many New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB) teams,the club, their sponsor, the Cancer Society and NZTR.
The initiative had received widespread and positive media coverage and was expanded last year with other clubs holding volunteer functions, sponsored by NZRB, for Cancer Society volunteers.
Around $60,000 was raised for the Cancer Society last year, with the bulk of that from theHastings race meeting, and a further six meetings will be involved this year.
“The industry stakeholders have been big contributors and there have been generous donations from trainers, drivers, owners and sponsors,” Hill said.
The Races team assists with the promotion of the Daffodil racedays, coordination between the partners and provides the host club with theming, marketing and social media support.This is particularly beneficial for clubs which have limited event capacity.
The Races has also established a dedicated website – www.daffodilraceday.co.nz which attracted more than 3000 unique visitors in the first month.
Note- The Races Ltd Partnership is the new title for the organisation previously known as theNZRB’s event marketing and logistics team (EML).The Races Partnership will still be funded by the NZRB for the next three years via aring-fenced distribution to Codes, but ownership has been transferred to NZTR and HarnessRacing New Zealand (HRNZ)The transfer of ownership will allow the Races Partnership to work more closely with theracing clubs, which are its primary customers.The business plan will be unaltered for the 2017-18 season but will be reviewed early nextyear, to determine if any changes are required.The major assignments for the season will include providing marketing and eventmanagement services and promotion for many racing events, including the Christmas at theRaces and the Interislander Summer Festival franchises.The organisation will now report to a board comprising representatives of NZTR and HRNZand will continue to work for Greyhound Racing New Zealand.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
