This is the second in a major series of articles concerning racetracks of the world starting with those in New Zealand.
WAIKATO –
Claudelands Raceway, Hamilton City was home to the Waikato Trotting Club/Harness Racing Club (1987/88 onwards). The 1890/1 Turf Register includes a Waikato club meeting (pony and trotting) in that season and another meeting held at Gynnelands Racecourse, Cambridge on 3 November 1892. Although having a short tenure a Hamilton club formed in the mid-1890’s raced on Coates Farm.
The Waikato Trotting club was formed by an enthusiastic group of eighteen persons at the Knox Hotel, Hamilton on 10 September 1906. The club survived its early years with a series of annual non-tote meetings, the first of which was held on 18 January 1907. Non-totes were held on 16 January 1908 with others held in 1909 – 1911 period.
It was not until the club obtained its first totalisator licence in the 1914/5 season (26 June 1915) that further meetings were held at Claudelands. Prior to this the South Auckland Racing Club held a two day meeting over consecutive days in February 1912 which included trotting races.
The Waikato TC/HRC raced throughout at Claudelands, the land being owned by Waikato Agricultural and Pastoral Society (A&P). The course had formerly been used by the Hamilton Racing Club whose interests and improvements were taken over by Waikato TC when the racing club moved to Te Rapa racecourse. Claudelands originally a six furlong track reduced in size to 800m in later years, at one time boasting three training tracks.
The Claudelands track also hosted meetings of :
- Waipa Racing Club held on 4 December 1915 which included trotting races
- Hamilton Trotting Club’s non-tote meetings between November 1962 and January 1964
- Waikato Trotting Owners Association meeting on 22 April 1981 including a non-tote 2yo trot
while the club held its 29 March 1983 meeting at Cambridge Raceway.
The track became all weather in January 1959 (800m); had lights installed that were used from May 1961; its first mobile gate was used on Saturday 24 May 1958 for First and Second Te Awamutu Hcps. On Saturday 16 January 1960 at the summer meeting, four of its eight races were run using the mobile gate. Unused at their winter meeting or at the inaugural night meeting held in March 1961; this being the venue for several open class races for pacers – being the Waikato Cup, Auckland Cup trial and RA McMillan Memorial which in 1962 saw the sport’s first millionaire Cardigan Bay compete and win by five lengths (bracket mate Waitaki Hanover was third).
The final meeting at Claudelands was held on 2 January 1997.
Cambridge Raceway has been the home base for a number of clubs effectively operating under the same overall banner for the past century but using a variety of names over that period. The Cambridge Trotting Club from establishment date in 1920 through to 1986/7; Cambridge HRC from 1987/88; Cambridge/Te Awamutu HRC from 1997/8; Harness Racing Waikato from 2013/4 and currently Waikato Bay Of Plenty HRC from 2017/8 season.
The Cambridge Trotting Club was formed after a meeting held in the Cambridge Town Hall on 28 October 1919 and registered with the trotting authorities taking place on 15 December 1919. A twenty one year lease of the racecourse was obtained from the Waikato Central A&P Society on 30 April 1921. The club celebrated their centennial on Friday 11 January during the 2019/2020 season.
Non-totalisator meetings were first held in the period from 15 January 1921 until November 1924, the first totalisator meeting consisted of seven races held on 9 May 1925. The club was incorporated on 30 August 1925. During the depression years the club held six meetings in an eighteen month period due to other clubs abandoning their permits. The military took over the complex for periods during the Second World War so combined meetings were held at Claudelands and Te Rapa (see below). Other landmark events regarding the raceway included :
- New metal/dust five furlong (now 1,000m) track used for first time on 31 December 1962
- Freehold title to the domain land on which the track is situated was received on 24 May 1963
- Racing under lights for first time on 5 January 1965
- Mobile gate designed by Alf Walsh first used at its meeting of Saturday 6 November 1965 for eight of nine races
- New members stand opened 24 July 1976, club’s biggest achievement
- New totalisator building built July 1983
- Track surface re-laid, running rail replaced with pylons, passing lane installed, bends cambered in consultation with American Daniel Coon in February 1996
- Clubhouse Sports Bar and Cafe situated on Cambridge Raceway with views of racetrack opened in 2002
- Hosting of Harness Jewels every second year since 2008 – season defining event featuring the best age group (two, three and four year old) pacers and trotters competing in nine 1609-metre Group 1 events
- new winning post installed in 2018
Cambridge Raceway has been the scene of all harness racing in the district since 1921. Exceptions have included meetings held at Alexandra Park : April 1926, January/February 1958.
Among many great performances at Cambridge Raceway have been Cardigan Bay’s 1:57.6TT (NZ record) on 28 September 1963 (see below);
several 1:52 pacing times (Adore Me 1:51.6; Shez All Rock 1:51.8; Eamon Maguire 1:51.9; Our Sky Major 1:52.0) and T1:56 trotting times (Stent T1:54.5; Stig/Oscar Bonavena T1:55.2; I Can Doosit T1:55.5; Kyvalley Blur T1:55.6; Valmagne T1:55.8) often completed in the three feature races for the club : Pacers – Flying Mile, Trotters – Cambridge Flying Stakes; Flying Mile and Jewels races.
The Matamata Trotting Club/HRC (1988/9 onwards) used Cambridge Raceway from September 1971 until February 1992, with one exception being a meeting held at Alexandra Park on 1 September 1982. These were initially equalisator meetings, first non-tote meeting in December 1977, inaugural on course only tote meeting on 22 February 1979 and the final on course only meeting held on 22 February 1992.
The Morrinsville Trotting Club was formed in 1949 following successful trotting races having been held at the annual Morrisville Picnic Racing Club’s meetings. Equalisator meetings were held in the early 1950’s on the Morrinsville recreation ground and in 1954 a matinee meeting was held at Claudelands at the invitation of the Waikato Owners, Trotters and Breeders Association (OTB).
After racing briefly on the Te Aroha Jockey Club’s course, Morrinsville had its first non-tote meeting on the grass at Cambridge in January 1961 and following on in the early 1960’s equalisator meetings during the day at Cambridge and night at Claudelands continued. The clubs inaugural totalisator meeting was on 3 May 1965 at Cambridge (night trots). The 28 September 1965 meeting featured the beginning of mobile starts on a regular basis with four of nine races utilising the mobile gate. Starting out with one permit, this increased to two by early 1970’s and three by mid-1970. The club continued to race at Cambridge until 6 November 2014. Meetings were held on the grass at the Te Aroha racecourse (Morrinsville Grass Cup) – see Te Aroha below – from 1999 until 11 January 2015.
Te Awamutu Trotting Club/HRC (1987/8 season onwards) : the forerunner to the Te Awamutu TC held non-tote meetings prior to the First World War on a back road linking Kihikihi and Hairini. A small training ground, almost a figure eight in shape called Pollards Paddock situated outside the Te Awamutu township on the road to Hamilton served the district well. The clerk of the course was Jack Pollard.
The Waipa Racing Club’s Greenhill course at Te Awamutu (1630m) was to become the district’s racecourse but the first meeting on 4 December 1915 was transferred to Claudelands as the Greenhill course was not completed. This meeting included two trotting races on a programme of eight however on 16 December 1916 the first meeting held on the Te Awamutu course and all subsequent meetings excluded trotting races from the programme.
The trotting club reformed in 1946 beginning with matinee trotting meetings in 1948 before holding their inaugural totalisator meeting at Waipa racecourse in May 1950. Obtaining a second tote permit meetings were held each October and March until 1960/61 when the club switched to a two day meeting on the first two Saturdays of October. The final meeting held at Waipa racecourse took place on 1 May 1971 and night meetings of the club commenced at Cambridge Raceway from October 1971. Te Awamutu club meetings continued to be held at Cambridge Raceway until 17 May 1998 when the club amalgamated with the Cambridge HRC.
A return to Waipa racecourse for the annual Te Awamutu Grass Cup (part of Country Cups fixtures) occurred from December 2006 until 2019 (last meeting held on course), when the race was renamed the Waipa Pacers Cup from 2020 and held at Cambridge Raceway.
Te Aroha Trotting Club now defunct conducted non-tote meetings at the Te Aroha Jockey Club’s course from May 1920 to 1923 with totalisator meetings run from May 1925 to December 1935 (including the running of Te Aroha Cup). The 1800m Te Aroha thoroughbred course opened in 1880 with the Te Aroha Jockey Club staging its first meeting on 12 March 1886. The course hosted the Morrinsville Grass Cup from January 1999 until January 2015 (held under Morrinsville TC auspices). In January 2019, the Te Aroha Pacers Cup (previously Thames Parawai Pacers Cup, held at Thames) was run at Te Aroha (last meeting on course).
The Thames Trotting Club/HRC (1988/89 season onwards) was formed on Saturday 6 December 1919 in the Albert Street offices of the Thames Jockey Club. Registered in January 1920 but not incorporated until 1926, the club’s inaugural meeting was held at the Parawai racecourse of the Thames Jockey Club on Saturday 20 March 1920. Non-tote meetings continued through until 1924 before the first totalisator meeting was held on Saturday 5 April 1925. The course originally one mile and 110 yards in circumference (now 1600m) is almost surrounded by the Kauaeranga River.
As shown below under the combined clubs headings, the Thames club raced at Te Rapa and Claudelands during the Second Wold War (1942 – 45); again at Claudelands in August 1952 and at Cambridge in July 1959. The final Thames club meeting at Parawai was held on 18 June 1960. The club then joined Franklin racing at Alexandra Park from 10 December 1960 until amalgamating with Auckland TC following the club’s meeting of 1 May 2016. The Thames club held its first “mobile start” meeting on Saturday 27 November 1965 when seven of its nine races utilised the flying start. Grass track racing returned with the annual Parawai Grass Cup meeting from January 2004 – 2018 (final meeting on course) with the exception of 2003 held at Alexandra Park. The race was then renamed the Te Aroha Pacers Cup in 2019 run at Te Aroha Jockey Club course (final meeting on course).
The Thames club established the North Island Oaks in 1967, which is now run as Great Northern Oaks by Auckland Trotting Club. Exhibition races were held in the early days of the club circa 1924 by greats such as Man O’War and Harold Logan. The 5 February 1955 Thames meeting run prior to the 1955 Auckland Interdominions, held ID trial under FFA condition’s as a prelude to the championships. The trial was won by Johnny Globe from Laureldale and Margaret’s Own.
Meetings of combined clubs were held during World War II e.g.
- South Auckland Trotting Club, combined clubs of Waikato/Cambridge and Thames : raced on Te Rapa**, Hamilton, thoroughbred track (December 1942 – April 1943) and at Claudelands (March 1943 – May 1945)
- Waikato/Thames combined : raced at Claudelands (November/December 1945) and Te Rapa** (March – May 1946)
- Thames Jockey and Trotting Clubs : non-tote 28 April 1945, Parawai racecourse
- Bay of Plenty, Te Awamatu, Thames, Waikato : Claudelands 4 June 1960
** Te Rapa : venue for Waikato Racing Club (WRC, 1788m), track opened with a Waikato Hunt Club meeting on 27 October 1924 with WRC holding their first meeting in November 1925.
Minor tracks used in the Waikato area :
- Alexandra (AK) Racing Club, held on the Mangapiko course, Alexandra, 1km from township (near Pirongia, northern border of King Country) – 3 December 1893 only. This club was formed in 1887 or 1888 and by 2020 had raced on at least 140 occasions with all meetings held on Boxing Day as a picnic affair. Now known as Pirongia racecourse
- Waikato Pony and Trot Club, Hamilton meeting 29 January 1891 – unable to confirm venue
- St Kilda Racing Club, held a meeting at Cambridge racecourse, 10 March 1898 due to unavailability of Arawa Park, Rotorua
- Mr J Coates farm, Hamilton – Hamilton Pony and Trot Club, May 1894 and 1895
BAY OF PLENTY –
The Bay Of Plenty Trotting Club/HRC (1987/88 season onwards), raced at Gate Pa, Greerton, Tauranga (1800m), a track opened by the Tauranga Jockey Club (formed 1873) on 8 January 1874 (name changed to Bay of Plenty Jockey Club 1890; Bay of Plenty Racing Club 1936). Trotting races were held at held at Gate Pa during the Bay of Plenty Jockey Club meeting of 18 February 1897.
The Bay of Plenty Trotting Club held its first matinee meeting on 13 November 1948 while totalisator meetings began on June 1950 lasting until 28 January 1978. After this date from 25 November 1978 due to a dispute between the trotting and racing clubs, the club began racing at Cambridge Raceway where after the meetings of October 2015 and January 2016 (Arawa Park), the club joined with Cambridge HRC to form the Waikato Bay of Plenty HRC from 2017/18 season. The annual Tauranga Grass Cup meeting was held from 1999 – 2018 at Arawa Park (not run 2019) and in 2020 this became the Waikato BOP Pacers Cup Final run at Cambridge Raceway.
On 1 February 1965, the club ran thirteen tote races (four division races) plus four qualifying trials, likely a NZ record with the last race run on time. In 1958 the Corrigan mobile gate made its first appearance in the North Island (outside of Hawera club where developed), used for the Te Puke Futurity Stakes of approx 1¼m, featuring two year olds (used again in 1959). It was also the first grass track club to use the Butcher gate developed by Brian Butcher of Palmerston North in 1966, using it for all but two races over its two day meeting.
The Rotorua Trotting Club, racing at Arawa Park (1800m), within a mile of central Rotorua has had a chequered history. The Rotorua Racing Club’s grass track was opened in 1897 with occasional trotting races held on their programme including 22 February 1908 when the Rotorua Jockey Club held its meeting at Victoria Park due to the unavailability of Arawa Park.
A club was first formed in the district in 1912 before going into recess in 1914. The next trotting club came into being in 1957 when matinee meetings were first held; a non-tote meeting was held in August 1959 prior to the club’s inaugural totalisator meeting on 9 July 1960.
A further non-tote meeting was held in 1961 before a lapse in meetings until the next tote meeting on 12 June 1965 with regular meetings following in future years until December 2002 (meeting held at Alexandra Park 6 April 1983). From that year on, the Rotorua club had joined with the relevant Cambridge club under whose auspices the annual Rotorua Cup meeting was held at Arawa Park (2003 – 2005; not run 2006 – 2015 and 2018; 2016 – 2017, 2019 – 2020, last meeting held). In addition to the Rotorua Cup, the club programmed the NZ Futurity Stakes for two year olds from 1967 to 1992.
Peter Craig
6 January 2020
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
