Southern Harness Racing has now entered into an exciting new season of harness racing in Southland and Central Otago with all nine clubs in the region signing a heads of agreement in July which changes the historical operating model.
The new agreement will leave clubs as their own individual identity and still running their race meetings, but the major change is that Southern Harness will centrally do the race programmes for all meetings and also set the stake levels for each day.
Newly appointed Chairman, Kevin McNaught is joined by John Earl (Winton HRC) and Murray Little (Invercargill HRC) as the board representatives of Southern Harness.
Jason Broad takes the new role as General Manager joined by Administration Manager, Julie McEwan-Franks and Office Manager, Nichola Hikawai.
As part of the agreement with the clubs and Harness Racing New Zealand all industry funding for the season will be bulk funded to Southern Harness and a per meeting allocation from this funding will be paid to each club to help assist with financial running costs of their raceday.
With 38 meetings in the province (previously 40) stakes and all starter payments will be increased by around $600,000 for the new season as opposed to last year. This increased distribution will be directly going back to owners, trainers, breeders and drivers. This new model is seen as both positive and sustainable for the future which will hopefully flow through into increased ownership and breeding of racehorses in the region.
A Programme Sub Committee has been set up with a wealth of knowledgeable
trainers and drivers to keep raceday programmes at a strong level consisting of regular types of racing and run at competitive stake levels for the whole season. This sub committee will be also working with HRNZ Handicapper, Andrew Morris.
Part of the agreement with HRNZ is that if the codes funding from the Racing Board increases in the future the bulk funding amount that is paid to Southern Harness will also increase which will allow for a further increase in stakes for the benefit of all industry stakeholders in the region.
Southern Harness Racing is thankful for the support and financial assistance shown by Harness Racing New Zealand in this positive change for harness racing in the South.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
