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No disrespect to your knowledge but as an athlete in my teenage years on the Coast I trained and raced at all four tracks. Omoto is also a swamp in the middle and any further development is constrained by physical barriers. Not to mention the periodic flooding from the Grey River which is one of those physical barriers. Yes Kumara is built on pakahi flats however many farmers and science has worked out how to turn it into very productive paddocks. Pakahi soil forms over hard iron pans. The soil itself isn't that bad but the problem is drainage. Crack the pan and put in good drains you are fine. The difference with Kumara is that there is acres of cheap land surrounding the existing course. Pakahi doesn't worry the building of infrastructure. You could very easily build a pseudo artificial turf track on the top of a hard iron pan. Westland missed an opportunity to promote West Coast racing.

Where the hell did I say that? Is that the so called "myth" you are talking about?

Anyone wanting to support Coast racing would have sponsored Greymouth, not Kumara, district or not. Kumara has no infrastructure to speak of apart from newish tie ups, and as it is pakihi, there isn't much point in spending more money on a swamp. Greymouth, on the other hand, has stabling, snd ran a raceday for Westland and probably still would, if not for that fourth day being dropped from the circuit. As it is they still run the Miss Scenicland.

FFS - you deliberately left the other clause out which is specifically aligned to the objectives of the Club. All other clauses are tested against those objectives. Geez spin around if you will. One minute you are saying it should be returned to the community that built it now you are saying stuff history it is what the latest community wants! When the assets were built up a long time before this latest generation came along!! The realised assets should have gone to Kumara to further racing on the West Coast. Not sold to developers to to reduce the rates of ratepayers of the Westland District Council. But just keep on perpetuating the poster child myth that the Westland Racing Club gave the finger to NZTR!

Can't you read? The one I quote clearly says they would seek NZTR approval in accord with the one you cite. They have invested in Kumara btw. Loaned them money and sponsored races there and the other West Coast clubs. Unfortunately, times change and the 150 year old agenda you are promoting became unviable and unnecessary in the eyes of today's members.

So the 150+ year paramount objective of the Club is over ridden with no consideration to those members who developed the assets to pursue their chosen sport of racing. I think you are deliberating obfuscating the point to suit an ill advised agenda. Racing AND the people of Westland could have benefited by the Club investing in Kumara which is officially in the District of Westland. You also ignore the clause immediately above the one you quote: In the event of the Club being wound-up or put into liquidation in accordance with (a) above, the property and surplus assets of the Club after payment of the Club's liabilities and the expenses of the winding-up must be disposed of in accordance with section 27 of the Racing Act, for racing, public, charitable, or other purposes in the manner that the Club, with the approval of NZTR, determines.

I think you miss the point. Once members resolved to not continue to pursue the object of racing at Hokitika, dispose of surplus assets, and dissolve the club, the original objectives were no longer. The constitution still said that in the event of dissolution the club would seek NZTR approval to dispose of surplus assets "for the benefit of the people of Westland", NOT for the benefit of racing.

Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michael B. Tabor's Plutarch (Into Mischief) has been ruled out of consideration for the GI Kentucky Derby, according to an updated Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard sent by Churchill Downs Wednesday. Trainer Bob Baffert confirmed to Daily Racing Form the colt emerged from his win in the GIII Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita Feb. 7 with body soreness and will remain in light training. Plutarch, a son of 2015 champion 3-year-old filly and 2017 $6-million Keeneland-topping mare Stellar Wind (Curlin), has not been off the board in six starts, including in the GI American Pharoah Stakes and the GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes at two. The post Plutarch Exits Derby Trail with Body Soreness appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

For a Green Bay Packers fan like Paul Farr, it was hard to watch his team squander an 18-point lead and lose to the Chicago Bears in the NFL playoffs. A month later, on the frozen tundra of Aqueduct Racetrack, he suffered another heartbreaking loss.View the full article

English football icon Harry Redknapp said that his late grandmother, the inspiration for his love of horse racing, “wouldn’t believe” he had a horse that is “running in the [Cheltenham] Gold Cup”. Redknapp owns The Jukebox Man, who is vying to be the favourite for the race that is regarded as the blue riband of jumps racing and the climax to the Cheltenham Festival on March 13. “It would be a dream wouldn’t it,” Redknapp said of winning it. “I love my racing. Football, obviously, has been my...View the full article

By Dave Di Somma, Harness New Desk Hawera trainer Willie Fleming can’t remember the last time he had such a short-priced favourite at the races. At Palmerston North today he lines up well-performed maiden Run Blaze Run in the Manawatu ITM Mobile Pace. After being placed second in his last four starts the Betterthancheddar five-year-old is currently at $1.55 to finally break through. “He’s overdue really isn’t he?” laughs Fleming. “You’d like to think today is the day but racing’s racing and anything can happen.” To be driven by Jay Abernethy, Run Blaze Run has drawn handily at four. “He has been improving all the time and is starting to work things out.” Run Blaze Run will be one of two “Run” horses at Manawatu this evening. Fleming will also back up his seven-race winner Run Mason Run in Race 4, the Manawatu Knitting Mills Ltd Mobile Pace, after a fifth placing on Tuesday. “He’s drawn better (2) and can be at the pointy end where he likes it,” says Fleming. He’s currently at $14 in the market with the Michael House-trained Goorambat Art, who’s drawn the ace, the $2.05 favourite. Both the “Run” horses are out of the Flemings’ own broodmare American Cha Cha. She has also produced Run Lola Run. The seven-year-old has yet to make it to the races “but she has just qualified”. Fleming worked her this morning ahead of the two hour trip to Palmerston North, hopeful he can snare his first training success for the year. “When ‘Mason’ won at Cambridge (December 18,2025) he went out favourite and the punters were right,” says Fleming, “let’s hope they are right again.” Fleming won’t have to wait long to find out, Run Blaze Run is in the first race starting at 5pm. To see the field click here View the full article

Waikato Thoroughbred Racing (WTR) have renewed their partnership with Wexford Stables for this year’s $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m), with the Club selecting L’Aigle Noir (NZ) (Ribchester) as their representative. The familiar combination contested last year’s inaugural running of The NZB Kiwi with Sethito (NZ) (Super Seth), who finished sixth, and they are looking to improve on that result when the Southern Hemisphere’s richest three-year-old race is run on Champions Day at Ellerslie Racecourse on March 7. A deal was brokered shortly after L’Aigle Noir’s luckless fourth placing in last Saturday’s $150,000 Group Three Eagle Technology Uncle Remus Stakes (1400m) at Ellerslie, and WTR Chief Executive Andrew Castles was pleased to secure the gelding just a fortnight out from the rich feature. “We are thrilled to link with Wexford Stables again, and Mark Chitty and his ownership team,” Castles said. “I connected with Lance very quickly after the running of the Uncle Remus and we are delighted that they chose us as their partner for The NZB Kiwi.” Bred by Anne Marie de Spa and Charles Hall, L’Aigle Noir is by Haunui Farm’s Group One-producing shuttle stallion Ribchester and out of stakes performer Silhouette Noire (Dane Shadow). He is raced by the couple in partnership with Haunui Farm principal Mark Chitty. After one start as a juvenile, the gelding has built a solid record at three, winning first-up over 1230m at Arawa Park in November before placing in the $120,000 Group Three Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m) at Pukekohe in December. He later finished seventh in the $250,000 Group Three Cambridge Stud Almanzor Trophy (1200m) on TAB Karaka Millions night before producing an eye-catching effort in the Uncle Remus Stakes last weekend, which cemented WTR’s decision to select the gelding. “We are thrilled to pick him up late in the piece,” Castles said. “I thought his run on Saturday, outside of the winner, was as good as any in the race and he probably should have run second with a clear run. “I went and saw him at Wexford Stables and he is an absolutely gorgeous example of the Thoroughbred, he is a cracking type. If he runs up to that type then he is more than a genuine top-five chance.” WTR will host a members’ function at Te Rapa Racecourse next Wednesday prior to the running of the big dance three days later. “We have got a members’ function next Wednesday night, very similar to the one we held last year,” Castles said. “We’ll have the connections in attendance, and our members and supporters are invited to join us as we preview The NZB Kiwi.” Lance O’Sullivan, who trains L’Aigle Noir in partnership with Andrew Scott, was pleased to renew the association with WTR, and he is hoping they are blessed with better fortune in this year’s edition. “He ran really well last Saturday,” O’Sullivan said. “He got held up at a pretty crucial part of the race and he would have finished a lot closer. He is a nice horse and a very good type. “They (WTR) had no luck in the race last year (with Sethito), so hopefully this year we get a bit of good luck. We are delighted to be partnering with them once again.” View the full article

Asva (NZ) (Capitalist) has produced a sharp form reversal from a Hobart Cup failure to victory in the Group 3 Ladbrokes Launceston Cup on Wednesday afternoon. “I knew I had a fair horse, I put a line through the last run,” winning trainer Glenn Stevenson said. “If he can get put to sleep in his chance. “He’s always shown the ability, it’s just been a matter of actually getting mature. It’s a maturity thing that’s been with him, and he’s finally grown into the horse he is.” Settled worse than midfield, Asva moved three-wide in the back straight with jockey Jett Stanley electing to go for home early five deep around runners aboard the six-year-old and hit the front 400m home. Trainer and jockey painted two very different pictures of the ride post race. “To be honest, you sit, and you go ‘what’s happened here, what’s he doing? Oh my God’ He won though so it’s a great ride,” Stevenson said. “Once we got into the side straight, there was a three wide moving line which I thought would take me where we needed to be,” winning jockey Jett Stanley said. “From about the 700m, I was going too well. For 2400m horses, if you don’t know whether they can do it or not, there is only one way to test them – that’s just to let them go when they are travelling that well. “He went around them so easily and effortlessly. From the 200m I was just trying to think of my salute.” Bred by Rosemont Stud, Asva was secured for $100,000 by Peter Snowden at the 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka, where he was apart of the Mapperley Stud draft. Asva is out of the Dylan Thomas mare First Bloom, a five-time winner on the track and a runner-up in the Tasmanian Oaks. First Bloom produced the accomplished Te Akau runner Fierce Flight (Flying Artie). A graduate of the Ready to Run Sale, Fierce Flight has compiled seven victories in his career, headlined by success in the Hawke’s Bay Cup. It’s a boilover in the Launceston Cup with Asva saluting at double figures! @stanley_jett and @GTS_racing combine to take out this years edition! pic.twitter.com/oVTt2t2CLJ — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) February 25, 2026 View the full article

Not at all. But then I'm not promoting the myth that the "community" benefited from the "gift". Explain this - why would the Westland Racing Club act opposite to the objectives of their Club? The Westland District Council that received the "gift" also has the Kumara Racing Club within its territorial boundaries. The WRC could have invested in that course and got more meetings! Hell it is only 20 mins drive down the road and has a lot more shyte land to develop into a decent racecourse!

But why do it that way Murray? Why not keep your "Club" going and invest in a better facility down the road? Isn't the reason for the Club - Racing horses be they Thoroughbred or Standardbred? Rugby Clubs with equally long historys have had to bit the bullet and merge otherwise instead of one Club promoting and playing rugby there would be two or three bankrupt ones.

So, you have another unarticulated conspiracy theory?

Very much my understanding for many of the 'smaller' clubs in the South!

The TPA, founded in 1951, is comprised of approximately 100 Thoroughbred racing publicists and marketing executives at racetracks throughout North America with the shared goal of promoting the sport of Thoroughbred racing.View the full article

Graded stakes winner Litmus Test battles past foe Blackout Time in the March 1 Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park, plus a slew of 3-year-olds he has yet to face, led by local stakes winners Silent Tactic and Strategic Risk.View the full article

Only part of the community built it for the purposes of horse racing. Those that were interested in horse racing. For the majority of its existence it was only ever used as a racecourse and horse training facility. Except for the likes of local athletes like myself who did cross country training on the course. The objective of the Westland Racing Club as stated in its Constitution was: To hold and conduct race meetings and to promote, regulate and assist the sport of Horse Racing at the Club's course at Hokitika or anywhere else in New Zealand. As for it remaining a community asset it has been turned into a housing subdivision. I know someone who has done a bit of research on the deal and it isn't as nice and touchy as those with other agendas make it out to be. At the end of the day Racing on the West Coast lost out to age old parochialism rather than a passion for racing.

I don't think many see it as virtuous benevolence. I thought they were just returning the asset to the community that built it as it should be.

That the Westland Racing Club gave the assets to the local community in an act of virtuous benevolence.

Since the inception of HISA, the diuretic Lasix (also known as furosemide) has been banned in all 2-year-old races and in stakes races. But that may be about to change. On May 22, HISA's nine-member Board of Directors will take a vote on whether or not the medication should be banned in all races. Unless the Board votes unanimously to continue to allow Lasix in all races except stakes and juvenile events, the use of the anti-bleeding medication will no longer be allowed in any states that fall under the HISA umbrella. When HISA was established, it essentially placed a three-year moratorium on a full Lasix ban pending the results of a scientific study that would delve into several issues involving the medication, focusing particularly on the effect of furosemide on equine health and the integrity of competition. Though the May 22 vote is nearing, two members of the HISA Board of Directors told the TDN that they have yet to receive any information or updates on the study. According to a statement issued Wednesday by a HISA spokesperson, the study has been completed and is under review. “Pursuant to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, HISA convened a Furosemide Advisory Committee to commission and oversee independent scientific research on the use of furosemide (Lasix) in horses,” the statement read. “Scientific studies funded by HISA on furosemide's effects have been completed and are in the process of being reviewed by the Committee, which oversaw the development of the research framework and evaluated proposals. We recognize the importance of this issue to the industry and are approaching it with the seriousness it deserves. “The Committee will send a recommendation to the HISA Board of Directors, who will make their decision with due consideration to the facts and science. In accordance with the Act, the decision will be made by May 22, 2026–three years after the launch of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program.” With the May 22 vote approaching, a letter was sent out Wednesday signed by Bill Mott, Chad Brown, Mark Casse, Jena Antonucci Ron Moquett and Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association, that questioned the need for a complete ban of Lasix. “The question before the Authority Board is not whether the sport must evolve–it must, it is and will continue to,” the letter read. “The question is whether eliminating a treatment that reduces lung bleeding serves the horse or simply satisfies a narrative. Treating pulmonary hemorrhage under veterinary supervision is not doping. It is responsible care.” The TDN reached out to some of the most prominent trainers in the sport and all spoke out against the proposed ban. “I think we're protecting the breed by not allowing 2-year-olds to race on it,” trainer Graham Motion said. “We're protecting the stud book by not allowing the best fillies and colts in the country to run on Lasix in stakes races. So we're protecting the breeding program. As for the bread-and-butter daily racing, I think Lasix is something that only helps the horses. I think it's working, and I don't really see the reason to take it away. I think the present system is working and I think it's going to make life very difficult for the day-to-day racing and the guys that have the claimers to operate without it.” Trainer Wesley Ward said that he has trained horses that would not have been able to race without Lasix. “I had a horse named Bound for Nowhere, who I still have,” Ward said. “I didn't retire him until he was 10, and he never had an issue in his life. Not a suspensory, not a tendon, nothing wrong with his feet. There was nothing wrong with him ever. The only thing he had was he was a bleeder. So, I turned him out all winter long, and then I'd bring him back and he'd have a few races. He made $1.3 million for me. If they didn't have Lasix, he wouldn't have made a dollar. The only thing it does is help horses that internally bleed in their lungs to lower their blood pressure to where they don't bleed. And it has nothing to do with masking soundness. It only helps the horses that have these issues.” Linda Rice is one of the leading trainers in New York, but most of her horses are claimers or allowance runners that routinely run on Lasix. She was adamant that a Lasix ban would have a negative impact on her operation and that a ban would only further reduce the size of fields, which is already a major problem for the sport. “I am hoping that they will keep Lasix,” she said. “I think that it could be damaging to lose Lasix for the bulk of racing. It could be damaging to the field size and the number of horses that can continue to race. And we're already having a problem with field size. It could be difficult to maintain the numbers that we need to keep racetracks going. So I'm hoping that they will decide to keep Lasix. As far as I'm concerned, I'm okay with 2-year-olds not having Lasix. I think that's fine. I'm actually for that. I think that gives them a chance to grow to full maturity and race as a 3-year-old. But I do think that it will have a negative effect on racing in general if they remove Lasix.” Rice said she would enter more stakes races, but is reluctant to do so because that would mean running her horses without Lasix. “I have quite a few horses in my barn right now that I would consider running in some stakes races,” she said. “I've had several like that through the years. But I know that they have a tendency to bleed and I am afraid to take the chance. I've tried it with a couple of horses and it's turned out poorly for them. And so I've had to stay away from stakes races.” Todd Pletcher's barn is largely focused on stakes races, where he cannot use Lasix, but he, too, thinks taking the medication away from lower-level horses would be a mistake. “My biggest concern with that is that it is going to affect our horse population,” Pletcher said. “I know that, personally, I have had to send some horses to Woodbine (where Lasix is allowed most races) over the last few years because they needed Lasix. I think we're already dealing with a diminishing population and foal crops, and this is something that will take a hit on the number of horses in training. So that's one concern. Plus, I do have some concern just for the health and safety of the horses, especially some lower-level claiming horses. Those horses probably need Lasix.” Like Motion, Pletcher also said that the current rules are working and should not be changed. “What they're doing now seems to be working fine,” he said. “I think everyone has kind of found a way to compromise, and what they've done is a good compromise. The platform that HISA ran on was one where they were going to allow some flexibility on the Lasix, and so I think they'd lose some goodwill turning back on that.” The HISA Board of Directors consists of Charles Scheeler, Steve Beshear, Adolpho Birch, Leonard Coleman, Joe De Francis, Terri Mazur, Susan Stover, Bill Thomason, and D.G. Van Clief. “Unfortunately, horses bleed, and the people that are making these decisions in our business aren't people that have been getting up every day for the last 35 years to see what's going on with horses,” Ward said. “You've got these people that are making decisions for trainers and owners and the horse itself, and that is ridiculous. They need to bring in and listen to people that have experience.” Thomason, the former President and CEO of Keeneland, said he is keeping an open mind regarding the Lasix issue and is also waiting ro read the HISA study. “Everyone on the board, I promise you, has an open mind about what our research will show,” Thomason said. “It's too early for me to comment on anything because nothing is there, nothing has been considered by the Board. This is still being evaluated by the committee that was established to study Lasix. Once again, anything I would say right now would be just speculation.” De Francis also said he has not made up his mind yet regarding how he will vote. He said he understands both sides of the issue, that Lasix can be helpful to bleeders, but he also opined that it can act as a performance-enhancer because it causes horses to lose weight before race. “What we're really trying to balance is the beneficial therapeutic effects of allowing Lasix to facilitate the ability of horses that have a genetic weakness to exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage,” he said. “We have to balance that constructive side with the negative health effects of widespread use as a performance-enhancer, causing dehydrated horses to be racing so that they can have the advantage of racing with 15 or 20 or 25 pounds less water weight. We're balancing the negative effects of the latter against the positive effects of the former and how those scales will ultimately tip. That's the balance that I look at.” The post Will HISA Ban Lasix in All Races? Its Board of Directors Will Soon Decide appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Then those Club members have no interest in the sustainability of the industry nor for that matter being committed to the constitutional reason for their existence - to further the interests of the sport of racing. Why couldn't Westland have given the capital released by selling DIRECTLY to the real estate developer to Kumara rather than giving it to the local Council? My father donated thousands of dollars to the Westland Racing Club either in money or services from his business. I helped paint running rails and seats. He was a realist as a business man and also didn't suffer from the parochialism that holds Clubs back. He was born and bred in Greymouth - his wife was from Westport. He ran the icecream stall at Kumara selling Snowflake tubs out of large canvas bags. He raced horses all over the South Island. He would have seen the writing on the wall for at least one (if not two) of the West Coast Clubs. At the end of the day he and his friends of his era would have rather have seen the money invested in racing on the West Coast.

Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) winner Plutarch is off the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail, per Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, Churchill Downs publicity announced Feb. 25. View the full article