More Details on Hawkes Bay Racing Incorporated Land Swap Deal

[Chief Stipe]

The land-swap deal at the heart of a new $77.3m racecourse in Flaxmere

www.nzherald.co.nz

https://bitofayarn.com

John Jenkins: The land-swap deal at the heart of a new $77.3m racecourse in Flaxmere

Hawkes Bay Today

6 Sep, 2025 06:00

A new state-of-the-art racecourse and thoroughbred training facility, costing more than $77.3 million, is planned for a Greenfields site on the outskirts of Hastings.

The 44.5-ha property is situated at the end of Portsmouth Rd, at the back of Flaxmere, and will be developed into one of five metropolitan racetracks in New Zealand.

Hawke’s Bay Racing Incorporated members were informed of the proposal at a Members Forum held at the Hastings racecourse on Tuesday evening.https://bitofayarn.com

They were told that the Hawke’s Bay company, TW Property, presently owns the land under consideration and will pay $50m for the present Hawke’s Bay Racing Inc. site, in the middle of Hastings, in what is tantamount to a swap deal.

The present Hawke’s Bay Racing Inc. site covers an area of 32ha and TW Property want to redevelop this into urban housing, with plans to build approximately 680 houses there.

The present Wall Rd stabling complex and the float park in Southland Rd, both still owned by Hawke’s Bay Racing Inc., will also be sold to help finance the new venture. https://bitofayarn.com

For the deal to move forward, NZTR is seeking $20m in Government funding. This, combined with an additional $7.3m injection from Hawke’s Bay Racing Inc. and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, will help make up the $77.3m needed to build the new complex.

The application for $20m of Government funding has been submitted to MBIE and an outcome is expected later this month. It is also subject to Resource Management Act approvals, including mana whenua consultation.

Following confirmation of that funding, a Special General Meeting of Hawke’s Bay Racing Inc. members will be called where they will be asked to vote on whether to approve the Greenfields proposal.

In the meantime, reconstruction work on the current Hastings racetrack is due to commence within the next fortnight, with re-cambering of the bend going out of the home straight and the one at the 1400m point.

Wide strips of grass and turf will be taken from these two sections and rolled and stored in an area on course. Soil will then be added to the two areas to create a camber and the grass and turf will then be re-laid.

The cost of this work has been budgeted at $2.2m but it is hoped that it will be significantly less and the plan is to have it fit for racing on again by the spring of next year.

Normal racing will then be conducted at the Hastings track for at least three years while the new Greenfields site is completed.

The new racetrack on the Greenfields site will be 1890m in circumference and 30 metres wide and will comprise a sand-based evergreen grass surface similar to those built at Pakenham and the soon-to-be-constructed Moonee Valley surface in Victoria, Australia.

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing CEO Matt Ballesty was one of several who addressed the members at Tuesday’s Forum and said the goal is to build five or six Metropolitan Standard racetracks in New Zealand over the next 10 years for racing, training and community use and that Hastings was seen as one of them.

It is hoped to have two Metropolitan tracks in the north, two in the Central Districts and one in the South Island, with possibly another one in the north.

NZTR chairman Russell Warwick said a Metropolitan racetrack will attract better quality horses and jockeys, as well as stronger wagering, and it is definitely NZTR’s intention to hold a Spring Carnival in the Hawke’s Bay region.

It is envisaged that the new Greenfields racetrack will be up and running by the spring of 2029 and will stage at least 19 race days a year.

The new Greenfields site will also have full thoroughbred training facilities, with a plough track, a sand track and the outside of the course proper available for trackwork. There will also be a tunnel that will give access to the middle of the racecourse where there will be stabling blocks to house Hastings-trained horses and those visiting from other centres.

There will be 132 tie-up stalls that can be used on race days with public access for easy viewing.

There will be no grandstand as such but there will be an administration building to accommodate officials as well as facilities for up to 40 jockeys and an events pavilion that could cater for 300 to 500 people, when used as one large area, or reduced to four smaller ones for different functions.

There will also be a raised hill grassed area where marquees will be erected on race days.

The complete racecourse will take up 37.5ha of the 44.5-ha property with the other 7.0ha to be able to be developed for housing at a later time.

[hesi]

54 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

The land-swap deal at the heart of a new $77.3m racecourse in Flaxmere

www.nzherald.co.nz

https://bitofayarn.com

John Jenkins: The land-swap deal at the heart of a new $77.3m racecourse in Flaxmere

Hawkes Bay Today

6 Sep, 2025 06:00

A new state-of-the-art racecourse and thoroughbred training facility, costing more than $77.3 million, is planned for a Greenfields site on the outskirts of Hastings.

The 44.5-ha property is situated at the end of Portsmouth Rd, at the back of Flaxmere, and will be developed into one of five metropolitan racetracks in New Zealand.

Hawke’s Bay Racing Incorporated members were informed of the proposal at a Members Forum held at the Hastings racecourse on Tuesday evening.https://bitofayarn.com

They were told that the Hawke’s Bay company, TW Property, presently owns the land under consideration and will pay $50m for the present Hawke’s Bay Racing Inc. site, in the middle of Hastings, in what is tantamount to a swap deal.

The present Hawke’s Bay Racing Inc. site covers an area of 32ha and TW Property want to redevelop this into urban housing, with plans to build approximately 680 houses there.

The present Wall Rd stabling complex and the float park in Southland Rd, both still owned by Hawke’s Bay Racing Inc., will also be sold to help finance the new venture. https://bitofayarn.com

For the deal to move forward, NZTR is seeking $20m in Government funding. This, combined with an additional $7.3m injection from Hawke’s Bay Racing Inc. and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, will help make up the $77.3m needed to build the new complex.

The application for $20m of Government funding has been submitted to MBIE and an outcome is expected later this month. It is also subject to Resource Management Act approvals, including mana whenua consultation.

Following confirmation of that funding, a Special General Meeting of Hawke’s Bay Racing Inc. members will be called where they will be asked to vote on whether to approve the Greenfields proposal.

In the meantime, reconstruction work on the current Hastings racetrack is due to commence within the next fortnight, with re-cambering of the bend going out of the home straight and the one at the 1400m point.

Wide strips of grass and turf will be taken from these two sections and rolled and stored in an area on course. Soil will then be added to the two areas to create a camber and the grass and turf will then be re-laid.

The cost of this work has been budgeted at $2.2m but it is hoped that it will be significantly less and the plan is to have it fit for racing on again by the spring of next year.

Normal racing will then be conducted at the Hastings track for at least three years while the new Greenfields site is completed.

The new racetrack on the Greenfields site will be 1890m in circumference and 30 metres wide and will comprise a sand-based evergreen grass surface similar to those built at Pakenham and the soon-to-be-constructed Moonee Valley surface in Victoria, Australia.

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing CEO Matt Ballesty was one of several who addressed the members at Tuesday’s Forum and said the goal is to build five or six Metropolitan Standard racetracks in New Zealand over the next 10 years for racing, training and community use and that Hastings was seen as one of them.

It is hoped to have two Metropolitan tracks in the north, two in the Central Districts and one in the South Island, with possibly another one in the north.

NZTR chairman Russell Warwick said a Metropolitan racetrack will attract better quality horses and jockeys, as well as stronger wagering, and it is definitely NZTR’s intention to hold a Spring Carnival in the Hawke’s Bay region.

It is envisaged that the new Greenfields racetrack will be up and running by the spring of 2029 and will stage at least 19 race days a year.

The new Greenfields site will also have full thoroughbred training facilities, with a plough track, a sand track and the outside of the course proper available for trackwork. There will also be a tunnel that will give access to the middle of the racecourse where there will be stabling blocks to house Hastings-trained horses and those visiting from other centres.

There will be 132 tie-up stalls that can be used on race days with public access for easy viewing.

There will be no grandstand as such but there will be an administration building to accommodate officials as well as facilities for up to 40 jockeys and an events pavilion that could cater for 300 to 500 people, when used as one large area, or reduced to four smaller ones for different functions.

There will also be a raised hill grassed area where marquees will be erected on race days.

The complete racecourse will take up 37.5ha of the 44.5-ha property with the other 7.0ha to be able to be developed for housing at a later time.

It would appear that racing will eventually disappear from Wellington as the 2 CD racetracks will be Awapuni and Hastings.

 

[Chief Stipe]

55 minutes ago, hesi said:

It would appear that racing will eventually disappear from Wellington as the 2 CD racetracks will be Awapuni and Hastings.

 

Trentham has a number of constraints.  The  biggest in my opinion is the lack of horses close by to enable a training centre to be developed.  The public facilities are stuffed and contrary to what some die-hard WRC members think the Champagne Turf is now more like a week old opened stubbie of Lion Red.

Some will say that a training centre loses money.  In my opinion that's only because there are insufficient horses and they are not run correctly.

The Hawkes Bay has a lot going for it.  

I just hope they face the public stand the right way.  Has anyway noticed that most of the Grandstands have been built facing away from the sun?  I'm over going to the races sitting in the shade freezing my extremities off.  Nine times out of ten they face the coldest prevailing wind.  In that respect Riccarton is enjoyable in contrast to Hastings and Trentham.

[hesi]

12 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Trentham has a number of constraints.  The  biggest in my opinion is the lack of horses close by to enable a training centre to be developed.  The public facilities are stuffed and contrary to what some die-hard WRC members think the Champagne Turf is now more like a week old opened stubbie of Lion Red.

Some will say that a training centre loses money.  In my opinion that's only because there are insufficient horses and they are not run correctly.

The Hawkes Bay has a lot going for it.  

I just hope they face the public stand the right way.  Has anyway noticed that most of the Grandstands have been built facing away from the sun?  I'm over going to the races sitting in the shade freezing my extremities off.  Nine times out of ten they face the coldest prevailing wind.  In that respect Riccarton is enjoyable in contrast to Hastings and Trentham.

Even worse, a faded old can of DB Draught hahaha

Anyway, so much for the conspiracy by NZTR to close down racing in HB.  They should put CW in the stocks in the middle of Hastings an allow all those racing people who he tried to undermine with his wacko conspiracy theories, to pelt him with rotten tomatoes

[Doomed]

Incredible stuff. So it is going to cost more than $77.3m. So does that mean it will cost $77.4m? Seems like a very precise figure this far out.

A metropolitan racetrack with no grandstands, just room for a tent. They should send these people off to Flemington and Randwick to advise them on how to make their tracks more successful.

Good luck on getting the $20m out of the Govt. Winston might think he has already done enough over the years.

[Chief Stipe]

Proposed Sites.  Not sure which end of Portsmouth Road they are looking at.  I would say the NorWest end looks more likely.  

[Chief Stipe]

You can see from this picture that the existing site is now completely landlocked and surrounded by hospitals and housing.  I wouldn't be surprised if the current medical centre nearby is looking to expand.

[mikeynz]

15 minutes ago, Doomed said:

 

Good luck on getting the $20m out of the Govt. Winston might think he has already done enough over the years.

Winston's done more than enough, 2 all weather tracks and sees nothing but dislike for them by many, then giving his flash tie wearing friends at Ellerslie the betting monopoly so they can supposedly get a bit richer, the well must dry up one day.

Edited 3 hours ago by mikeynz

[Chief Stipe]

18 minutes ago, Doomed said:

Incredible stuff. So it is going to cost more than $77.3m. So does that mean it will cost $77.4m? Seems like a very precise figure this far out.

Picky.  Did you read what the article actually said?

2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

A new state-of-the-art racecourse and thoroughbred training facility, costing more than $77.3 million,

It said "costing more than" $77.3m.  I'm guessing the journo added everything up himself.  Regardless it is an estimate.

21 minutes ago, Doomed said:

A metropolitan racetrack with no grandstands, just room for a tent.

FFS - have you been to the races lately?  On the one hand "We're Doomed" you criticise waste but then conveniently ignore the fact that most of the "GRAND-stands are empty on raceday and only frequented by rats and birds the rest of the year.  Heaps of capital tied up doing nothing.  Marques actually work quite well except in a cyclone.  I'm sure this approach might give Foxton some hope!

My most enjoyable day at the races recently was under a large umbrella sitting at a table in the sun on a raised mound.  Food and drink literally 5m away!

26 minutes ago, Doomed said:

They should send these people off to Flemington and Randwick to advise them on how to make their tracks more successful.

Flemington is in Melbourne - a poplulation greater than NZ.

Randwick is in Sydney - a population greater than NZ.

Hastings - 85,000.

I suggest you have a look at Pakenham which is what they are designing the new track on.

[Chief Stipe]

48 minutes ago, Doomed said:

Good luck on getting the $20m out of the Govt. Winston might think he has already done enough over the years.

 

34 minutes ago, mikeynz said:

Winston's done more than enough, 2 all weather tracks and sees nothing but dislike for them by many, then giving his flash tie wearing friends at Ellerslie the betting monopoly so they can supposedly get a bit richer, the well must dry up one day.

Come on guys.  Read between the lines!  The $20m will be coming from the rebranded PGF (Jonesies Pork Barrell).  HBRI will be swapping the land to allow the extension of a medical centre and housing.  Unlike the AWT's this actually makes sense from an investment perspective.

One of the new funds is called the Going for Housing Growth programme (GfHG).  

GfHG is structured around three pillars that make system changes to address the underlying causes of the housing supply shortage. These are: 

1. Freeing up land for urban development, including removing unnecessary planning barriers
2. Improving infrastructure funding and financing to support urban growth
3. Providing incentives for communities and councils to support growth.
4. Together, these three pillars have an objective of: improving housing affordability by significantly increasing the supply of developable land for housing, both inside and at the edge of our urban areas.

The $20m is pocket change in meeting those objectives.  It is a Win Win Win for everyone PLUS the Government can manage the politics easily - "Look we have freed up a whole lot of land in Hastings for expanding medical centres and housing.  Plus allowing a Hawkes Bay major event venue to continue to grow and develop". 

[hesi]

Don't forget that the Govt is looking to make legislation that makes it easier to put on major events without all the current red tape.

The lack of a grandstand did stand out.  Maybe as things develop that can be modified with some sort of joint venture to use the site for other functions, like Ellerslie, so some sort of pseudo grandstand

[hesi]

Is Doomed, We're Doomed on the other site?

Seems quite knowledgeable, so must have good awareness of the industry, but does come across as very cynical.

[Chief Stipe]

46 minutes ago, hesi said:

Don't forget that the Govt is looking to make legislation that makes it easier to put on major events without all the current red tape.

Yep.  Then Nanny State has had the unintended consequence of most people needing to be mothered and forgetting how to have fun!

46 minutes ago, hesi said:

The lack of a grandstand did stand out.  Maybe as things develop that can be modified with some sort of joint venture to use the site for other functions, like Ellerslie, so some sort of pseudo grandstand

I honestly don't think a grandstand matters.  I can remember some of the best days I had at the races I was in a Marque on the inside of the track (Trentham), feeding and drinking from the boot of a car at Tauherenikau, standing on the tow bar of a horse float at Waterlea and recently under an umbrella at Matamata.  The boot parties at Hororata and Motukarrara were pretty good too. 

Recently I saw a scaffold grandstand for Sail GP which was as good as any.

Not to forget the big days at Kumara where the "Grandstand" is the size of a dolls house and sits about 200 people!  You can get marques bigger!  

 

[Chief Stipe]

50 minutes ago, hesi said:

Is Doomed, We're Doomed on the other site?

Seems quite knowledgeable, so must have good awareness of the industry, but does come across as very cynical.

I see the usual hardcore on NZ's Anti-Racing forums are finding every reason they can to trash the idea.  However they are bereft of any ideas themselves.  Yet the same lot would have more money poured into the likes of Trentham!

Lets face it $77m will only buy 60 houses in South Auckland which is about 4 hectares.  Or less than two years of yearlings for Chris Waller.

[Bloke]

55 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

I see the usual hardcore on NZ's Anti-Racing forums are finding every reason they can to trash the idea.  However they are bereft of any ideas themselves.  Yet the same lot would have more money poured into the likes of Trentham!

Lets face it $77m will only buy 60 houses in South Auckland which is about 4 hectares.  Or less than two years of yearlings for Chris Waller.

The problem is that racing clubs are not experts on property development or even straight forward property purchases. In the case of Race, they were "know it all's" and should have at a minimum sought advice from experts in the property development field and for significant property transactions they should have always sought final approval from members.

In the case of Hastings, it is pleasing that they are consulting their members something The Wellington Racing Club never did for the 20 plus years that I was a member.

In the case of Hastings, I think that the proposal can work if they hire the right people and not try to be the experts on property which they are not.