HRNZ Update from the Chair

[Wandering Eyes]

The HRNZ Board is committed to being a good and open communicator with all sections of the sport and will be providing regular updates on what it’s doing, and where its priorities lie.

By way of background, the seven-member Board was appointed at the HRNZ AGM in October last year, with members coming from Auckland to Invercargill.

The Board consists of :

Grant Jarrold (Chair)
Hannah Doney (Vice Chair)
Shaun Brooks (Finance Chair)
Jane Davis
Georgina Hunter
Stephen O’Connor
Tim Sissons

Profiles : 

Grant Jarrold  – Chair 

Based in Christchurch, Grant is a retired chartered accountant with extensive sporting and business experience. He is involved in syndicated horse racing and is a member of the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club. He has a number of governance roles and since his appointment to the HRNZ Board he has resigned as chair of the Crusaders Board to take up a new role on the Board of New Zealand Rugby.

Hannah Doney – Vice Chair 

Based in Christchurch, Hannah has extensive governance experience with a background in marketing and business development and holds other board roles nationally. She is a founding trustee of the Standardbred Stable to Stirrup Charitable Trust.

We will profile the other five Board members in future correspondence.

Chat with the Chair:

Since November the new Board has met three times and we have forged a good working relationship with Brad Steele and the rest of the leadership team at HRNZ and have also had regular correspondence and liaison with other key partners including TAB/Entain, Racing NZ and a number of our stakeholder member clubs and bodies. 

We are all about overall governance, and ensuring HRNZ is in a position where it will thrive. Our role is not to get involved in every minute detail. We will be connecting with the National and Regional forums for industry input when planning our strategy refresh in the coming months. 

Although headquartered in Christchurch, the Board functions as a truly national body. We’ve been attending race meetings across the country, witnessing first hand the genuine optimism for the future of harness racing. Recent significant wins further underscore this positive trend: wagering is up from last year, yearling sales have been remarkably successful, and initiatives like Next Gen along with the rising popularity of summer meetings at tracks nationwide, clearly demonstrate that our strategies are driving growth in our sport.

Right now, the Board has a number of priorities:

– Refreshing the organisation’s strategy for 2025 and beyond
– Assessing the Look North strategy to ensure it is achieving its goal of re-invigorating racing in Auckland and Cambridge for the ultimate benefit of all of NZ
– Assessing HRNZ’s financial performance against its budget and working closely with Chief Executive Brad Steele in monitoring the business plan for 2025
– Assessing what impact Government and/or Entain/TAB changes will have on HRNZ e.g. the legislative net (stopping NZ punters from gambling offshore)
– Continuing to improve the welfare of everyone in our sport including horses and people through OnTrack and other initiatives e.g. improving veterinary facilities at some clubs
– Managing programmes to mitigate key risks to our industry and its participants

The Board’s next meeting will be held in Auckland in late March. 

 

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