Sunday Star Times, January 6 2008
Barry Lichter
Holidaymarkers are flocking to picnic race meetings in record numbers, stretching facilities to the limit and boosting club coffers.
And even though some savvy marketing of the SpringFresh Destination Summer meetings is helping draw the crowds, beautifully fine weather is mostly behind its surge in popularity.
After years of bad weather, a run of fine days has helped boost attendances to an expected record 150,000 people, said NZ Racing Board on-course marketing and events manager Janice Hill.
Up 50,000 on only a couple of years ago when the programme started, destination summer meetings were now a preferred entertainment option for many holidaymakers, she said.
And while research has shown that up to one third of the crowds are first-time racegoers, course turnovers are already up 15% on last year.
Huge crowds attended Tauherenikau and Waikouaiti and unprecedented scenes greeted club officials at Motukarara near Christchurch last Saturday.
Banks Peninsula Trotting Club president Maurice McDermott said he couldn't recall a bigger crowd in the past 20 years. "Some of the older committee-men said it was 25 years ago when they last saw so many people. We put the number at between 8000-9000 - it was only 6000 last year.
"The big domain outside the course was full and we had to open the hill beside the course for the first time in 15 years, and it was chocka with probably 1500 cars.
"There were a lot of young people and that's what we're aiming for. I saw people who'd never been at the races before and one fella shook my hand at the end of the day and said he'd never been before but he'd definately be back."
Greymouth Jockey Club president Jill Bennington put yesterday's Omoto crowd at well over 3000 people.
The meeting, which was abandoned last year after rain made the track dangerous, was set to return record betting figures.
"The woolshed car park is just about full and that tells us it's a huge crowd."
The series continues at Otaki today and another 13 meetings will be held until the last, at Tauherenikau on Waitangi day.