…. or in this case Alexandra Park’s NZ Trotting Hall of Fame and Addington’s Harness Hall of Fame. That however is where any substantial similarity ends.
Alexandra Park’s Hall of Fame (NZ HOF) has the luxury of a physical location in which to display its memorabilia. The Museum complex is world class and ranks highly when compared against the standard bearer, Harness Racing Museum and HOF located at Goshen, New York State (USA). Addington on the other hand has no physical complex at present but does maintain a comprehensive on line presence.
The NZ Trotting Hall of Fame Inc was formed at a meeting held at Alexandra Park on 10 June 1969. Those heavily involved in getting the Hall of Fame underway included Alby Douglas, then Auckland Trotting Club (ATC) President Reg Lewis with the original Committee including founding President Bert Harris and journalists Ron Bisman and Pat Naden. A disused tote in the Alexandra Park Derby area was converted into a museum and opened by Hon. Alan Highet, MP in 1970. A great deal of fund raising was involved to generate funds to assist in preserving memorabilia.
The original immortals named were outstanding horses Caduceus, Cardigan Bay, Harold Logan, Highland Fling, Johnny Globe and Ordeal (see www.classicfamilies.net lines/Hall of Fame (New Zealand) for all horses honoured to date). Many more horses and people have subsequently been inducted into the NZ Trotting Hall of Fame.
Funding provided by major benefactors such as Sir Roy McKenzie and Max Harvey together with “founders” wall contributions, allowed the ever growing quantity of memorabilia provided by the generosity of the trotting fraternity throughout NZ, to be moved in 1985 to the larger and more strategically located “A” tote building behind the Alexandra Stand (opposite rear of main official and members stand). This allowed a library section to be added containing extensive collections of studbooks, trotting/HR annuals, magazines, videos and a section devoted to the Harness Cadet Scheme.
The crowning achievement of the NZ Trotting Hall of Fame was its latest move to the 500 square metre Noel Taylor New Zealand Trotting Hall of Fame Museum building. Officially opened by Noel Taylor (President ATC 1984 – 89) prior to the opening race of the ATC’s 19 December 1997 meeting, he totally financed this superb building which allows future generations to gain an insight into earlier days of trotting/harness racing.
Items on exhibit include cabinets displaying trophies such as original Auckland Cup won by Commodore in 1890 and Monte Carlo‘s colours from winning first NZ Trotting Cup in 1904, Corrigan mobile barrier, sections devoted to Cardigan Bay (buried beside Museum) and Delightful Lady (replica of her in full race trim) together with a variety of overseas contributions to the Museum. Honours Boards depicting horses and persons inducted into the NZ Trotting Hall of Fame feature.
The Museum is used for functions, a recent example being the venue for pre-dinner drinks for 2015 NI Awards evening. The Trotting Hall of Fame supports the Auckland Trotting Club by way of race sponsorships. The Museum/Hall of Fame is open on race nights from 4pm until race five and at other times by appointment, former MP Gilbert Myles is in charge these days. The NZ Trotting Hall of Fame does not have its own website but information pertaining to the Hall of Fame can be found under the Racing Information section of website www.alexandrapark.co.nz.
It must be recorded that without the dedication and enthusiasm of now deceased individuals such as Les Callender (President), Bill Moat (Vice President), Neville Southey and Noel Taylor, the NZ Trotting Hall of Fame Museum would not be what it is today, a world renowned facility honouring the industry’s heritage.
The Addington Harness Hall of Fame (HOF) was established as a charitable trust in late 2000 and prior to the destructive earthquakes of September 2010 and February 2011, memorabilia was displayed in the Public Stand at Addington Raceway. The earthquakes caused the subsequent demolition of the public stand removing the HOF’s physical presence at the Raceway.
An attempt was made to display memorabilia in the Metropolitan Stand, however with the large number of events/functions being held it necessitated the frequent movement of display cabinets. This resulted in damage being sustained to the memorabilia displayed therein (trophies, pictures, rugs, sashes, literature). A decision was made to remove the cabinets and all memorabilia to temporary storage in a 40’ container generously supplied at no charge by major container firm Maersk. This temporary solution lasted approximately three years before the raceway was able to make available an onsite storage option in which Addington’s HOF memorabilia is now located. A small selection of memorabilia is currently displayed at the Parklands ‘One Good Horse Restaurant and Bar’.
Addington HOF aims to conserve and ultimately display important memorabilia specifically in relation to the raceway. Preserving great moments of the past at Addington by providing an online internet presence through the auspices of www.hof.co.nz OR www.addington.co.nz racing/hall of fame giving people worldwide and within the local NZ Harness Racing industry the opportunity to view aspects of Addington’s history.
The Addington HOF has, since 2005, annually honoured outstanding achievements in New Zealand Harness racing, celebrating renowned equine performances and racing personalities of the raceway. Achievements of the equine and human legends of harness racing are honoured within three colleges of HOF inductees – horse people, service to the industry and horses. Appropriately the initial inductee was none other than the legendary Maurice Holmes. Brief bios and photos of all inductees are maintained on the above website. Photos of inductees and the Honours Board are to be rehung in the main foyer of the Metropolitan Stand.
Additional historic information is provided on the website by way of separate tabs for champions (results of all significant races ever held at Addington including links to race videos from 2001/2 season), links to other major harness racing websites with the crème de la crème of the website being the timeline – a feature of the front page of website with history at the raceway set out by year, alphabetical search, major topic etc together with an ever changing “Blast from the Past” storyline.
Unlike Alexandra Park, the Addington Harness Hall of Fame’s ability to obtain a suitable building to house its not inconsiderable and precious memorabilia is severely constrained by a lack of funding. Until such time as this issue can be satisfactorily addressed and/or a benefactor (s) comes forward, the likelihood of future displays of Addington’s historic memorabilia will be limited to the space recently made available by the raceway in the main foyer of the Metropolitan Stand.
…. and so concludes the differing tale of two NZ cities Harness/Trotting Halls of Fame.
Peter Craig
28 January 2016
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
