Chief Stipe Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago Root cause of Awapuni racecourse woes eagerly anticipated George Heagney November 25, 2025 Once a highlight of the summer calender, it’s now been four years since Awapuni has hosted Boxing Day festivities.Warwick Smith / Manawatū Standard Bosses at Palmerston North’s Awapuni Racecourse are awaiting the results of soil testing to see what work needs to be done to restore the troubled track to action.https://bitofayarn.com The grass track has been closed for two years. It was shut for 19 months while extensive renovations were done to fix drainage problems, then meetings have been halted since a slip during the first race at an event in April, which was abandoned.https://bitofayarn.com New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and the Racing Integrity Board announced in October that all trials and race meetings at Awapuni would be stopped for the rest of the year to work on the track’s long-term sustainability. Richard Simpson is the chairman of Race, which runs racing at Awapuni and Trentham in Wellington. He told the Manawatū Standard what happened next was up to the track experts as consultant Liam O’Keeffe and others from Australia inspected the track last week and took soil samples back. Once they had those results, likely in mid-December, then it would give them a clearer idea of what work the track needed and whether it would have to be renovated. The grass track at Awapuni Racecourse is closed while work is done to determine what is causing issues with it.Adele Rycroft / Manawatū Standard Simpson said they were in “limbo” until then and it was too early to make a call. It had been “extremely” frustrating to have faced repeated problems and lengthy delays.https://bitofayarn.com He said New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing was in control of the project and the track didn’t become Race’s again until after the first successful meeting was completed. But Simpson said the track’s drainage, irrigation and camber was perfect, it was getting the grass to settle and root development that was the issue. Race did maintenance work on the track over winter such as coring and sweeping, which was putting small holes into the track to allow air in and bring the track firmness down, and adding more sand to the track. Not being able to host its major race days such as the Manawatū Cup before Christmas, Boxing Day, and its biggest meeting, the Sires Produce Stakes in April, had been a big blow financially. Boxing Day in particular drew huge numbers of people on course. Simpson said the club had been doing what it had to do to survive. It remains unclear when horses’ hooves will again be allowed to touch the contentious turft at Awapuni.Warwick Smith / Manawatū Standard “Financially we’re surviving, but we’re under a bit of pressure. We thought we’d be back racing,” he said.https://bitofayarn.com “NZTR are supporting us. It’s certainly not easy.” Awapuni had been scheduled to host a return to racing on November 1 but that was put off. Recent meetings had already been shifted to other race tracks in the lower North Island and Simpson wasn’t sure where coming meetings would be held yet. NZ Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Matt Ballesty said the organisation was committed to Awapuni long term. “We are currently in the hands of the experts and are awaiting solo testing and sourcing options before we have a definite course of action. “The reality is these things take time and we like everyone are disappointed it's taken so long but we must make sure each step from here is the right one.”https://bitofayarn.com Soil samples have been taken from Awapuni Racecourse to determine what to do next with the troubled track.Warwick Smith / Manawatū Standard An update would be provided once they were clear what the next steps were, he said. Race held its annual meeting last week and Simpson said the track was the main thing on everyone’s minds. “They’re saying, ‘When can we go racing?’” Race chief executive Tim Savell announced in September he was resigning after four years in the role.https://bitofayarn.com Simpson said they hadn’t looked for a replacement yet while they dealt with the track. Quote
Chief Stipe Posted 1 hour ago Author Posted 1 hour ago Yep - the answer lies in the soil! They would need special dispensation to get through Australian Customs I imagine. Quote
curious Posted 4 minutes ago Posted 4 minutes ago 1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said: Yep - the answer lies in the soil! What soil? As far as I can see, they tried to build a sand track in a swamp. Quote
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