Recent developments in the New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Industry have been extremely positive, with Entain’s agreement with the TAB seeing a 29% increase in prizemoney and a 13% increase in Racing Club funding effective from 1 August.
Trentham itself is set for its biggest season in over 20 years, with 16 racedays from October 2023 to July 2024 as a result of the closure of Awapuni for reconstruction work. In addition to our regular calendar we’ll now be hosting four meetings in the month before Christmas, and a bonafide Autumn carnival that includes three Group One races in three weeks.
In light of this positive news, we also thought it was timely to update members on the redevelopment of RACE Trentham, which over the next 5-10 years will transform the venue into one of the world’s premier racecourses.
Malcolm Gillies and his team at Gillies Group have been working extremely hard on delivering a host of quality racing facilities that are underpinned by sustainable residential and commercial activities. They’ve gained a full understanding of the current operations at Trentham, while also investigating best practice from around the world. In May, a delegation that included architects, developers and RACE personnel toured around five Australian racecourses, gaining useful insights that will assist with the planning and delivery of the project.
The basis of the redevelopment is all new raceday hospitality and operational areas, along with 850 apartments and purpose-built commercial spaces, along with a hotel and associated facilities. The next major step in the development timeline is the finalisation of the contractual arrangements between RACE and the Gillies Group, which Kainga Ora have asked to be completed by later this year.
Rezoning the site to accommodate new central government density requirements is also progressing through the Upper Hutt City Council’s prescribed process, while the existing grandstands, annex building and old tote complex were all declared earthquake prone by the Council earlier this year as they only met 8-12% of the New Building Standard. We’ve also taken the opportunity to move our administration office into the Wellington Cup Pavilion by the main gate, which will be our new home base until construction commences in 2026.
Membership renewals have now opened for the 2023/24 season, while hospitality options for our Christmas and Wellington Cup carnivals will be on sale soon. There’s never been a better time to join the action at RACE Trentham, and we look forward to hosting you oncourse during our busy summer ahead.