Auckland Racing Club

Many of the early racing clubs had a rather chequered existence and soon disappeared. Typical is the New Ulster Jockey Club, formed in Auckland on 17 May 1849. The new club took over from the committee which had controlled the Auckland races from 1842 to 1849. When the Province of New Ulster was abolished in 1852, the club became known as the Auckland Jockey Club. A second club, the Auckland Turf Club, was formed on 21 August 1873, but held one meeting only. Members of the two clubs met on 9 January 1874 and decided to amalgamate. The new club was to be known as the Auckland Racing Club.

The Auckland Racing Club held its first meeting in 1874 on its present course at Ellerslie, which had been used for racing since 1857. The property was formerly part of the farm of Robert Graham, a keen supporter of racing, and was known as Graham's Gardens. On 19 May 1872 some 90 acres were bought by the Auckland Jockey Club. The course is thus older than the club which now owns it. Later, more land was bought. The club now owns 180 acres. The course gardens attract thousands of visitors each year and, since 1960, the official stand (an imposing structure of modern design some 300 ft long and 90 ft high) has proved an added attraction. There are 16 race days a year at Ellerslie, one day being for the Pakuranga Hunt Club's meeting. The Auckland Cup, run over 2 miles, is the main race at the summer meeting. It was established in 1874 and is now the richest race in New Zealand. In 1955 the stake rose to £12,500, but is usually. £11,000. The Auckland Racing Club has always given the best stakes possible to the classic and weight-for-age races on its programme. The Great Northern Derby was first run in 1875 and the Great Northern Guineas in 1888. The Great Northern Oaks were added in 1906 and the Great Northern St. Leger in 1916. The Great Northern Steeplechase, in which the contestants run over the famous “hill” three times, is the main attraction of the winter meeting. It was first run in 1885. The Great Northern Hurdles, run at the same meeting, did not begin until 1892. The feat of El Gallo accomplishing this double in 1915 and 1916 is one of the outstanding events in the history of jumping races in New Zealand. The Easter Handicap, the main race at the club's Easter meeting, has become the richest mile race in New Zealand. Ellerslie racegoers will always associate the race with the gelding Sleepy Fox, which won it four times in succession. The Auckland Racing Club was possibly the first racing club in the world to film its races and was the first in New Zealand to introduce the photo-finish camera.

Canterbury Jockey Club

The Canterbury Jockey Club has had the oldest continuous existence of any club in the country, and for nearly half a century was dominant in New Zealand racing. In Christchurch, on 4 November 1854, following the market dinner which took place every Saturday at the Golden Fleece Hotel in Colombo Street, J. R. Cracroft Wilson presided at a public meeting, when it was decided to form a jockey club. This was done on 2 December and the Governor was asked to set aside as a public reserve an area in the neighbourhood of Trig. Point No. 2, about 6 miles from Christchurch. The club held its first meeting at what is now the Riccarton racecourse in 1855. The main race was the Canterbury Cup of £50–2-mile heats – won by Tamerlane. In 1860 the Canterbury Derby began through J. W. Mallock, who offered £50 if the club would give a like amount. At this meeting what was possibly the first two-year-old race in New Zealand was run. The Canterbury Derby was later renamed the New Zealand Derby. The first Champion Race meeting in Canterbury took place under the club's auspices in 1865. The Champion Race, run over 3 miles, weight-for-age, with £1,000 added money and a sweepstake of 50 sovereigns, drew a field of 10, and was won by Lance's Ladybird. She had been bought from H. Redwood after winning the first Champion Race in Dunedin the previous year. In 1866 the added money in the Canterbury Cup was raised to £1,000 and the net value of the stake was £1,450. It was won by Harris's Belle of the Isle. He won the race the next year with Stormbird, when the added money was still the same. Stakes were reduced the next year. In 1873 the club decided to hold two meetings a year and alter the course to, as near as possible, a mile and a half, its distance today.

The club increased public patronage in 1877 when it opened a private branch railway to the course from the main south line. In 1881 the telegraph was used on the course for the first time. The growth of the club was illustrated that year by the opening of its new stand, which was a reduced model of that at Randwick, and seated 600 with standing room for 400 more. It is interesting to note that, at the club's first annual meeting, a proposal for a stand costing £46 had been turned down, and no stand was built until 1864. From the time the totalisator was introduced in 1880 the club made steady progress and its meetings attracted the best horses in New Zealand. In 1883 the first New Zealand Cup was run. The stake was £1,000, and it was won by Tasman, owned by D. O'Brien, later to gain fame as the first owner of Carbine. The race was formerly run as the Canterbury Jockey Club Handicap, first run in 1865. Of other historic races the Champagne Stakes and the Great Autumn Handicap were first run in 1874, the Welcome Stakes in 1879, the Middle Park Plate in 1884, and the New Zealand Oaks in 1887.

Although Riccarton is the venue of the Grand National Steeplechase, the Canterbury Jockey Club did not establish the race. The first Grand National Steeplechases were controlled by the New Zealand Grand National Steeplechase Club, formed in 1874, and for a time its rules governed most steeplechase and hurdle races in New Zealand. The first Grand National Steeplechase was run near Waimate in 1875. The rules provided that the race should not be held at the same place in successive years. Thus for some years the race was run alternately in South Canterbury or North Otago and North Canterbury. In 1884 this rule was rescinded and Christchurch became the venue. In 1888 it was arranged that the Canterbury Jockey Club should run its meetings, and since then the Grand National Steeplechase has been run at Riccarton. Cutts, the famous fence in the course, was so named because it is near the entrance to Cutts's stables, Chokebore Lodge, opposite the racecourse entrance. These stables were taken over by Cutts in 1868 and occupied by the family for almost a century. Their name will live as long as the famous race which, though not the most valuable, is still the premier test of a steeplechaser in New Zealand.

Wellington Racing Club

Though racing was introduced early to Wellington, the Wellington club is by no means the oldest in New Zealand. The early racing was held at Hutt Park (which was proclaimed a racecourse reserve in 1854) and at Burnham Water, a former Miramar lagoon which had been drained, leaving 200 acres of flat land. In the 1860s a Wellington Jockey Club existed, but was not very active. Promoted by P. A. Chavaumes, a two-day meeting was held at Hutt Park in 1867 and, on the second day, a Wellington Cup was run. A second meeting was held in 1868 and a third in 1873, which was attended by 5,000 people. With an assured future, a new Wellington Jockey Club was formed under the presidency of the Provincial Superintendent, W. Fitzherbert. The new club had a two-day meeting in March 1874. Another set down for December had to be postponed until the following March. The name of the club was altered to the Wellington Racing Club in 1879. The next year the totalisator was used at Hutt Park for the first time. A dispute which developed with the Island Bay Racing Club over which was to be the metropolitan club, was referred to the Wanganui Jockey Club for settlement. Finally the Wellington Racing Club leased the Burnham Water racecourse. The Hutt Hack Racing Club also held races at Hutt Park, but by 1887 the Wellington Racing Club was firmly established as the metropolitan club and the development of Hutt Park proceeded. Arguments over the shortcomings of Hutt Park as the racecourse for the capital city came to a head in 1903 when the Railways Department refused to improve the transport to the course – which was not of easy access. Accordingly, A. E. Whyte, appointed secretary in 1903, conceived the idea of building a new course at Trentham. A scheme of splendid vision was propounded at a meeting of the committee in August 1904, and the President, J. B. Harcourt, confirmed that money enough was available. The 230 acres of land cost an estimated £9,000, construction of the course £22,000, and buildings £22,000. Trentham was built and the first meeting was held on 20 January 1906. It was appropriate that at the first meeting Ropa won the Wellington Cup in 2 min 33 sec, then a New Zealand record for a mile and a half. The three great stands were built between 1922 and 1924. Trentham thus had excellent appointments to match its splendid track. It is placed to attract the best from both Islands. Country-wide interest in the course is indicated by the large amount of off-course betting on Trentham meetings.

The Wellington Cup was first run in 1874, when the winner was the three-year-old Castaway. The distance was 2 miles until 1889; from 1890 to 1941 a mile and a half, and thence again to 2 miles. The race has been notable for some outstanding performances by three-year-olds. After Castaway (8 st.) came Korari (6 st. 10 lb) in 1876. In 1890 Cynisca (7 st. 1 lb) gained the first of his three successive wins. Renown (8 st. 10 lb) won in 1901 and the outstanding fillies Gladsome (8 st. 5 lb) and Nightfall (8 st. 2 Ib) in 1904 and 1905 respectively. Gladsome was subsequently disqualified for being ridden by an unlicensed apprentice. Then followed Rapine (7 st. 12 lb) in 1923, Defaulter (8 st. 11 lb) in 1939, and Kindergarten (8 st. 6 lb) in 1941. Beaumaris (8 st. 0 lb) has been the only three-year-old successful at 2 miles. The success of Advance (“The Black Demon”) among the older horses with 10 st. 4 lb in 1903 stands out over the shorter distance, and that of the 1961 winner, Great Sensation (9 st. 2 lb) over 2 miles in the Australasian record time of 3 min 17.2 sec. He won again with 9 st. 6 lb in 1962, and again in 1963. Wellington's classic and stakes races were established later than those of Auckland or Canterbury. The Wellington Stakes was first run in 1897, the Wellesley Stakes in 1898, the North Island Challenge Stakes and the New Zealand St. Leger in 1899, the Wellington Guineas in 1940, and the Desert Gold Stakes and the Gloaming Stakes in 1947.

Dunedin Jockey Club

The greatest difficulty faced in establishing racing in Dunedin was finding a suitable and convenient course. From 1862 to 1868 the Otago Jockey Club (a body that hardly qualified for the title) ran the racing, including the first New Zealand Champion Race, at Silverstream in 1863. This race offered the first £1,000 stake in New Zealand racing, and it was added to a sweepstake of 100 sovereigns. It was run over three miles at weight-for-age and was won by H. Redwood's four-year-old mare, Ladybird, from Mormon, regarded as the best horse in Australia.

The Dunedin Jockey Club was formed in 1869 after the Otago Jockey Club became defunct. It raced for one season at Silverstream. About 1869 it gained a lease of Forbury Park, Dunedin, and formed a course there. Racing began in 1871 and continued until 1898. In 1887 the club bought Wingatui, near Mosgiel, and transferred there in 1899. A Dunedin Cup was run by the Otago Jockey Club in 1867 and 1868. The present race dates from 1874 when H. Redwood's Lurline was the winner, ridden by R. J. Mason, who later became most successful as the trainer for G. G. Stead. The Champagne Stakes, established in 1878, has Carbine, as well as other distinguished horses, in its list of winners. Likewise the James Hazlett Gold Cup in which Limerick, Nightmarch, Silver Ring, Royal Chief, Defaulter, and Kindergarten are among those successful. In the early 1880s the New Zealand and the Dunedin Cups each carried a stake of £1,000 and were the medium of heavy wagering. At that time Otago had more clubs and more racing days than any other province.

Wanganui Jockey Club

The Wanganui Jockey Club contributed a great deal to early racing. The present club was reconstituted in 1874, although racing had carried on continuously in Wanganui since 1848. From 1879 to 1887 the club ran a Wanganui Derby and, in 1876, a Grand National Steeplechase (a title soon dropped). The Wanganui Cup was established in 1875 and the Wanganui Guineas in 1898. Early members of the club, notably A. J. Parsons, Drs Earle and Connelly, and Freeman R. Jackson (club secretary), played a big part in the establishment of the New Zealand Racing Conference; another member, A. Higgie, persistently advocated that the Racing Conference publish the New Zealand Stud Book.

Hawke's Bay Jockey Club

A Hawke's Bay Jockey Club existed in 1866. The present club dates from November 1874, when it was re-established at a meeting at the Napier Provincial Council Chambers. The first race meeting was held in 1875, but the club did not make Hastings its permanent centre until 1878. The club's first president, W. R. Russell, and its first secretary, F. D. Luckie, held the same offices on the establishment of the New Zealand Racing Conference. The architect of much of the early racing legislation was J. D. Ormond, who represented the club as a delegate for many years. The Hawke's Bay Cup began in 1875 and the Hawke's Bay Guineas in 1880. The club has strongly supported steeplechasing. The Hawke's Bay Steeplechase was established in 1879. Among the winners of this race was Moifaa, which S. H. Gollan took to England to win the Liverpool Grand National. (Gollan had already won the Hawke's Bay Steeplechase with Norton, which he rode himself.)

It could be expected that, in a colony settled by predominantly British people, horse racing in some form or other would soon begin. Horses were a valuable necessity in the colonies. The first horses to be landed in New Zealand were probably those brought from Australia by the Rev. Samuel Marsden to Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands on 23 December 1814 from the ship Active. They were from New South Wales, the gift of Governor Macquarie to the Maoris. Horses from New South Wales were to have an important place in the establishment of thoroughbred breeding in New Zealand. There are few records of the very early importations. Horses came with the military garrisons and it is recorded that the first horses arrived in Wellington on 2 March 1840. The first acknowledged thoroughbred horse, Figaro, landed in Wellington. He was bred by T. Icely, of Cooming, New South Wales, a celebrated breeder of the time.

Horse racing was quickly introduced to the early settlements. It was a feature of the first anniversary celebrations in Wellington, Auckland, Nelson, Otago, and Canterbury. Race meetings soon became important social and sporting events. The first were, perhaps, held around 1840 by the military garrison at Auckland. The soldiers ran meetings at Auckland and Onehunga using their own troop horses, the officers acting as officials. On 5 January 1841 the citizens of Auckland and Manukau held a meeting at Epsom, the principal event being the Auckland Town Plate by subscription of 3 sovereigns each. The stewards were listed as Lieutenant Smart (28th Regiment), Dr Gaumise (80th Regiment), and W. Young, Esq., the last named having been chairman of a meeting of interested citizens the previous November when it was resolved that the Auckland races take place at Epsom racecourse. From 1842 to 1849 the races at Auckland were controlled by “The Committee”, comprising mainly officers of the Militia. Interest in these early meetings was heightened by owners very often riding their own horses. Edward William Stafford, one of the early Premiers, was among those who did this.

The first anniversary of the settlement of Wellington in January 1841 included a hurdle race on the third day of the celebrations. It was won by Henry Petre riding his own horse, Calmuc Tartar. A jockey club was formed for the meeting but it lapsed after a few years. The first formal meeting was held at Petone beach on 20 October 1842, when the imported horse Figaro beat Calmuc Tartar in a 10-guinea sweepstake run in heats over a mile and a half. Racing later took place at Hutt Park and Burnham Water (the site of a former Miramar lagoon). The latter was probably the first racecourse in New Zealand and had a grandstand.

A hurdle race was run on the first anniversary of Nelson “through fern and flax, up hill and down hill”. Nelson first placed racing on a sound footing. There was a good course, with thoroughbreds imported for racing and breeding, and horses trained and brought out to race in something like “condition”. The course was at Stoke, 4 miles from Nelson. It was first used on 3 February 1845.

There was a meeting in Wanganui on 28 December 1848 and there, too, the officers of the Militia had a hand in starting the sport. The first races in Dunedin were held on 23 March 1849 as part of the Anniversary Day celebrations, with the eccentric Dr Manning a prominent owner. Following the gold discoveries in the province, Otago was, for a time, the strongest racing centre in New Zealand. The celebrations on the first anniversary of the Canterbury settlement on 16 December 1851 included four horse races over a course in Hagley Park facing the road running from the Riccarton Hotel to the Fendalton Bridge. The course was still in its native tussock. There was also early racing on the West Coast and in Taranaki; but not in Hawke's Bay (a district later to play an important part in New Zealand racing) until 1 January 1857.

Foundation and Administration of Racing Conference

The early race meetings in the colony were controlled by local committees elected for the meeting only, generally at a public meeting of interested citizens. Those elected made the arrangements, drew up the rules, and appointed the officials. In the larger towns the establishment of a racing club generally followed. These local clubs had their own locally varying rules, but based in common on those of the English Jockey Club. Until the late 1860s each club was a separate identity, with little coordination because of the difficulties of travel and communication. Consequently, disqualifications imposed by one club would not apply at another. The first attempts to introduce some form of unified control were made by the metropolitan clubs, a rather grandiose title for the times. It is not clear how certain clubs came to be so designated and to assume a limited control over the racing within their districts. But the metropolitan clubs of the 1860s and early 1870s did correspond with the main towns of the provincial districts. It is possible that there was some direction given from the Colonial Secretary at Wellington, since at that time permits for race meetings were issued by his office, and programmes in each district were approved by the Resident Magistrate. In early minute books there are instances of the Resident Magistrate referring programmes back to the metropolitan club because they had not first had that body's approval. So probably the sheer need for a responsible body to give guidance on those matters and to settle disputes forced the metropolitan clubs to act as a miniature jockey club.

After racing had been established for 30 years, the metropolitan clubs realised the need for some governing body to obtain uniform rules of racing and a uniform scale of weights. The first recorded move was made by the Canterbury Jockey Club in 1875 and, on 11 November 1876, during the course of the Canterbury Jockey Club race meetings, a meeting of delegates resolved “That it was desirable to establish a New Zealand Jockey Club, to frame rules and make a scale of weights to be used by all clubs running under the rules”. There was obviously some dissatisfaction at the time, for in 1877 the Canterbury Jockey Club resolved to recognise only the Dunedin, Wellington, Auckland, and Hawke's Bay Clubs. This made Wanganui and Taranaki hostile.

The first truly constructive move came from the Hawke's Bay Jockey Club which, on 12 July 1883, decided to set up a subcommittee, consisting of Captain W. R. Russell (later to be the first president of the Racing Conference), R. U. Burke, and C. B. Winter (the mover of the proposal), “to consider the establishment of a New Zealand Racing Association, and the drafting of Rules for same, and that the matter be submitted to the clubs already mentioned and the Taranaki and Wanganui Jockey Clubs, which were to be the Metropolitan Clubs for the proposed Districts the colony would be divided into”. The proposal also suggested the monthly publication of a racing calendar, the registration of colours, and a turf register.

The New Zealand Racing Conference finally developed very much as the Hawke's Bay Jockey Club had proposed, but a general move was not made for 13 years, when the Canterbury Jockey Club in 1882 organised a further meeting of delegates to revise the rules. Representatives of the Canterbury and Dunedin Clubs met for a similar purpose in July 1886. The minutes of these meetings have disappeared. More significant progress was made the following year. Many clubs realised the potential of a steady income from the totalisator to supplement their funds. But the issue of permits to too many clubs, some virtually individuals running proprietary meetings, was being widely criticised. There were countless abuses. In January 1887 A. J. Parsons, of the Wanganui Jockey Club, expressed concern at totalisator abuses and asked a Wellington conference of delegates from all the metropolitan clubs to consider the matter. At the suggestion of the Auckland Racing Club, this historic meeting was held at Napier on 15 and 16 March 1887, when Messrs W. Percival (Auckland), C. J. Penfold (Canterbury), Hon. G. McLean (Dunedin), C. B. Winter (Hawke's Bay), R. H. Nolan (Taranaki), Dr R. C. Earle (Wanganui), and H. M. Lyon (Wellington) met under the chairmanship of the Hon. G. McLean.

The only record of this meeting is a letter addressed by the chairman to the Colonial Secretary. The letter declared that the purpose of the meeting was to help racing as a whole, pointed out certain advantages to the country in using the totalisator confined within its lawful limits, and suggested ways of controlling the totalisator and of encouraging the breeding industry. The Colonial Secretary's reply pointed out to the chairman that legislation would be necessary to give metropolitan clubs a defined and legal status under the Gaming and Lotteries Act before the suggestions could be acted on. The Colonial Secretary proposed that the delegates' recommendations could best be carried out by formulating them in a Bill, which might then be introduced into either House of the Legislature by some member interested in racing. No Bill has ever been introduced; the authority of the Racing Conference is still not enforced by Statute.

From 1887 to 1891 metropolitan club representatives met every year and sometimes twice a year, with some meetings being attended by representatives of the Greymouth, Nelson, and Marlborough clubs. Many of the early meetings were held in Parliament Buildings, and several of those early delegates were members of either the House of Representatives or the Legislative Council. The Hon. G. McLean, M.L.C., chaired the first meeting and, except for the Hon. J. D. Ormond, the Hon. W. R. Russell (who became a member of the House of Representatives) chaired all the other early meetings. F. D. Luckie, of Hawke's Bay, became the conference secretary. The Hon. E. Mitchelson, the Hon. O. Samuel, Dr Earle, Freeman R. Jackson, R. H. Nolan, Francis Henry Dillon Bell, and, above all, Sir George Clifford, were prominent in helping the Racing Conference to gain its high standing as quickly as it did.

Attempts to Form a Jockey Club

The first 25 years of the Racing Conference brought many difficulties, as there were strongly opposing views about the form the governing body should take. The formation of a New Zealand Jockey Club was strongly favoured and, at a meeting on 13 July 1891, Clifford moved for the establishment of such a club to come into existence on 1 January 1892. The motion was carried against strong opposition from the Dunedin and Taranaki clubs which were successful in having consideration of the draft rules deferred and, by continued opposition, forced the eventual with drawal of the motion in 1893. At the same time the Hon. J. D. Ormond moved for country clubs to be given representation on the conference. Final approval of this came at a meeting in Wellington on 8 July 1893. Rules and regulations for conferences of New Zealand jockey clubs were drawn up, setting out the representation and voting powers of the metropolitan and the district clubs. This meeting truly set the future legislative pattern for racing. The proposed New Zealand Jockey Club had been conceived as a body with no parochial interests, and as a final court of appeal on racing matters. But the Dunedin and Taranaki clubs had the support of many of the country clubs in their opposition to what they feared would be an autocratic body. It was rather ironical that the last move to form a New Zealand Jockey Club in 1911 came from a country club. In November 1896 Sir George Clifford was elected chairman and, in 1897, W. H. E. Wanklyn became secretary. This was a period when the Racing Conference extended its influence and expanded its administrative functions. By 1900 the control of racing by conference was firmly established and in that year it was given the great honour of being recognised by the English Jockey Club.

In 1897 R. H. Nolan succeeded in having adopted his scheme for appeals against decisions of metropolitan clubs' committees being heard by three appeal judges appointed by the president. This system was acclaimed at the time and has stood the test of the present day. The first appeal was heard in 1898, the judges being Dr Earle, Geo. Hunter, and Nolan.

In 1899 it had been decided that country clubs be allowed two representatives on metropolitan committees. The registration of all racing clubs was enforced in 1900. A most important step for owners was the institution of accident fees in 1903. An accident fund for trainers, jockeys, and stablehands was established to relieve owners of their liability under the statutory provisions of the employers' liability and like Acts. The jockeys' and trainers' provident funds controlled by each metropolitan committee continued, but on a gradually changing basis.

Control of Meetings

In the early part of this century malpractices led to strong criticism of the control of race meetings. Sir George Clifford left people in little doubt that most of the trouble arose through the nefarious practices of bookmakers. The conference had recommended the appointment of judicial committees by each club as early as 1902. Later it sanctioned the appointment of advisory or stipendiary stewards by metropolitan committees, but this did not prove satisfactory. There was persistent public agitation for the appointment of stipendiary stewards by conference itself. A Stipendiary Committee was appointed in 1909 to carry the scheme affirmed at the annual meeting; but difficulties of cost and the opposition of country clubs delayed approval of the appointment of such officials until 1912. This was a triumph for the long fight by the Taranaki clubs for such appointments. The first appointees were J. McMahon, A. W. Gordon, and D. W. Gibson, and the first meeting they attended was the Auckland summer meeting of 1912–13. The Stipendiary Stewards' Committee was the forerunner of the present Executive Committee of conference. The original committee comprised the president (Sir George Clifford), Hon. W. H. Herries, M.P., W. E. Bidwill, H. Friedlander, E. R. Guiness, P. Miller, and R. H. Nolan. Only the president and Miller were not representatives of country clubs. The representation of the country clubs both on the Racing Conference and on the metropolitan committees had been a contentious matter for some years. A special Constitution Committee was set up in 1911 to investigate the question. Its report at the 1912 meeting of delegates resulted in the metropolitan committees being replaced by district committees on which the metropolitan clubs had five representatives and the country clubs an equal number. The new committees began in 1913. The stipendiary stewards gradually improved the control of racing and this met with general approval. They were, however, disturbed by the continued presence of undesirable elements on the racecourses. As early as 1914, racecourse detectives had been employed on a daily basis by district committees and clubs to remove undesirables from courses. The Stipendiary Stewards' Committee recommended that the Racing Conference employ permanent racecourse detectives, but this was stubbornly opposed by a minority of clubs and was not finally approved until 1921.

When the First World War broke out, the Racing Conference was pressed first to stop all racing, and then to reduce the number of race days. Following the lead given in England, racing continued, but in 1917 a special committee agreed with the Government to reduce race days by a third. The racing clubs were soon active contributors to the various war funds, and a number of courses were taken over for military purposes, notably Wellington (Trentham), Wairarapa, and Manawatu.

In 1921 the appointment of racecourse inspectors was agreed to, the first appointments being A. Ward, R. G. Black, F. Cullen, and J. Torrance. All were ex-police officers. Through the work of the racecourse inspectors (who cooperate closely with the Police), the racecourses in New Zealand are kept remarkably free of undesirables and prohibited persons. The independent licensing of trainers and jockeys by each metropolitan district committee also ended in 1921, when a Licensing Committee was appointed and all licences issued by the Racing Conference. The Southland Metropolitan Committee was created in 1925, all clubs in the Southland Province being separated from the Otago district.

From 1898 the affairs of the Racing Conference had been administered from Christchurch. With the growth of racing after the First World War it was decided that the headquarters should be more central. In 1930 they were moved to Wellington. The constitution of the conference was altered in 1928 when the Executive Committee was formed. This first consisted of the president, vice-president, and six representatives, but in 1929 this was changed to include one representative of each metropolitan district. The Licensing Committee and the Dates Committee were abolished in 1933 and their duties taken over by the Executive Committee.

Racing fell off during the depression of the 1930s. The Racing Conference was faced with many difficulties because of the plight of some of the smaller country clubs. Some became defunct and their permits were taken up by other clubs. Race days were again reduced during the Second World War and many racecourses were taken over by the military. The restricted racing and lack of transport raised many problems, as the number of horses in training was not reduced, nor was there any loss of interest in race meetings. These were often held under great difficulties because of the military occupation of the courses being raced on. In the later years of the war the Executive Committee sanctioned race meetings to raise patriotic funds.

Post-war Trends

The growth of racing in the post-war years was even more marked than in the early 1920s. Race permits were not restored immediately the war finished but over the two years following. The conference pressed for more permits, but these were not granted until after the report of the 1946 Royal Commission on Gaming and Racing had been considered by Parliament and the Gaming Amendment Act passed in 1949.

The conference considerably advanced steps in the interests of racing and the national bloodstock breeding industry when it set up its “dope detection” scheme in 1953. Racing expanded quickly in the Auckland Province (especially in the Waikato district) with the great increase of population there. This led to the formation of the Waikato Metropolitan District in 1949 by the division of the Auckland Metropolitan District, then by far the largest and strongest in New Zealand. There have been no changes in the metropolitan districts since. In 1962 the conference for the first time had its own building, in Farish Street, Wellington.

The Racing Conference has had remarkably few changes in its highest offices. Only eight men have been president. Captain (later Sir William) W. R. Russell, the first president, held office from 1889 to 1896, although Sir George Clifford acted as chairman of the 1895 and 1896 meetings. Sir George Clifford held office from 1896 until his death in 1930. W. E. Bidwill acted as chairman in 1928. O. S. Watkins was appointed president in 1930 after acting in 1929 and carried on until 1933. J. S. McLeod was elected in 1934 until he was succeeded by A. S. Elworthy in 1939. H. R. Chalmers became president in 1942 and retired in 1955, the second longest holder of the office. W. Claude Motion, vice-president for 14 years, served one year in office before he retired and G. H. Grigg was appointed. There have been only four secretaries. F. D. Luckie, secretary of the Hawke's Bay Jockey Club, acted from 1889 to 1897, when W. H. E. Wanklyn of the Canterbury Jockey Club was appointed and continued until he retired in 1917. H. R. Sellers succeeded and, on his death in 1939, A. M. McBeath, the present secretary, began his term of office.

General and District Administration

Thus racing in New Zealand is now controlled by the New Zealand Racing Conference, which, consistent with its origin, is an association of the clubs registered under its rules. The Racing Conference does not run race meetings, as it is a purely legislative and administrative body. The year-to-year administration is done by an Executive Committee elected annually and comprising the president and vice-president, ex-officio, and one representative of each of the 10 metropolitan racing districts of New Zealand. Delegates of racing clubs meet annually in Wellington in July, when legislative matters are dealt with by way of remits from the Executive Committee, district committees, or clubs. The Racing Conference registers all horses, issues all licences, administers the General Trust Fund (Accident Fund), and publishes the New Zealand Stud Book and the New Zealand Racing Calendar. The secretary is the principal executive officer, and a staff of stipendiary stewards and racecourse inspectors attend all race meetings.

In each metropolitan racing district a district committee generally supervises the racing in its district whether the meetings are run by totalisator, non-totalisator, or sports clubs. Each district committee comprises one representative of each district totalisator club and an equal number of representatives of the senior club, which is known as the metropolitan club. Each district committee must approve all programmes in its district and consider all applications for dates and licences before they are submitted with recommendations to the Racing Conference. It also hears all appeals against the decisions of racing club judicial committees and reviews all penalties imposed by the latter.

Local Administration

There are 71 racing clubs and 17 hunt clubs authorised to use the totalisator and a total of 259 days allocated to racing. All racing clubs are non-proprietary, and the committee and the stewards of each are elected from the club members. Each racing club runs its own affairs and its own race meeting. On race day, the committee or the stewards (or sometimes both according to the club's constitution) control the meeting, and all judicial matters are dealt with by a judicial committee appointed by the club. This committee must investigate all matters submitted to it by a stipendiary steward or racecourse inspector, neither of whom has any judicial powers. Most racing clubs own their own racecourses. Hunt clubs do not, and they are not individually represented on a district committee.

The harness sport of trotting and pacing is more popular in New Zealand than anywhere else in the world, with the possible exception of America, and many notable names are associated with it. Peter Bingen won the New Zealand Trotting Cup, the blue riband of the sport, both in 1928 and in 1929, and was followed by some other great multiple winners in the idolised Harold Logan (1931–32), the great long-striding Indianapolis (1934–35–36), the speedy Haughty (1942–43), the brilliant Highland Fling (1947–48), and False Step (1958–59–60), who had distinguished performances also in both Australia and America. Johnny Globe, another winner of the Trotting Cup, holds the world pacing record for 2 miles – 4 min 7.6 sec.

by Ronald Jones, Journalist and Script Writer, New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, Wellington.

Three names stand out above all others and are almost household words wherever racing is discussed – Desert Gold, Gloaming, and Phar Lap. Desert Gold (by All Black) and Gloaming (by The Welkin) were the great rivals of the years of the First World War and after. Year after year they carried the Lowry and Greenwood colours to victory to the applause of thousands, and completely dominated the classic sphere in contemporary racing. Each won the King's Plate at Ellerslie three times between 1915 and 1920, and each numbered among innumerable trophies such classics as the C.J.C. Derby Stakes, the C.J.C. Challenge Stakes, the Oaks, the Canterbury Cup, and the North Island Challenge Stakes. In their day they were invincible.

The third of the triumvirate was the almost legendary Phar Lap, the son of Night Raid, who in the late twenties and early thirties beat all comers, and carried the fame of New Zealand bloodstock abroad. In Australia he numbered the Melbourne Cup among his successes, and in America he held his own against the best America could produce at the famous Agua Caliente racetrack. Phar Lap's fantastic career was cut short by an early death, but his memory is preserved by the last resting place which has been accorded him in the Melbourne Museum.

Sasanof was another brilliant star of the second decade of the present century, but his quality and worth were overshadowed by the magnificence of his incredible contemporaries. He beat Gloaming on one occasion, and by winning the New Zealand Cup, in 1918, he joined a celebrated company of good performers which included Cuddle (also twice winner of the Auckland Cup), Vagabond, Oratress, Night-march, Beau Le Havre, Serenata, and Conclusion.

The Auckland Cup, the richest race in New Zealand, recalls such names as Beau Vite, Howe, Kindergarten, Beaumaris, Yeman, and Froth, and a consistent runner of the eighties, Nelson, who greeted the judge at the head of the field three times in four years. The Winter Cup of 1 mile at Riccarton is another event that has produced some great performances. Vladimir and Chortle in 1903 and 1914 registered very fast times, and well known winners include four who were successful twice in succession: Catalogue (1937–38), a Melbourne Cup winner, Soneri (1946–47), Julius Caesar (1948–49), and Royal Warrant (1955–56).

Big names in the classic field have been many, apart from Desert Gold and Gloaming. Among them are — New Zealand Derby Stakes: Nightmarch, Royal Chief, Beaumaris, and Dalray. C.J.C. Challenge Stakes: Reremoana, Cricket Bat, Royal Chief, and Defaulter. North Island Challenge Stakes: Reremoana, Kindergarten (three times), Mainbrace, Coleridge (twice), and Yahabeebee. Mainbrace, by Admiral's Luck, was one of the brightest stars of the early fifties and was scarcely ever beaten in his meteoric career. He attracted an offer of £50,000 from an American owner but could not pass the veterinary test.

The Wellington Cup at Trentham was won three times in succession by Cynical in the nineties, and other well known winners were Surveyor, Kindergarten, Golden Souvenir, Bruce, and Beaumaris. The best performers in the Dunedin Cup belong to the long-past heyday of the Wingatui meeting. They include Sir Modred (1881), Liberator (1894), Stepdancer (1906 and 1907), and Rorke's Drift (1916 and 1919).

Steeplechasers, too, have their place among the memorable performers of the turf in New Zealand. Great stayers who won the Grand National Steeplechase more than once included such gallant sorts as Agent (1879–80), Mutiny (1895–96), Wiltshire (1928–29), Valpeen (1934–35), and Clarion Call (1938–40).

Among the New Zealand horses that have won the famous Melbourne Cup are such champions as Martini-Henry (1883), Carbine (1890), Sasanof (1916), Nightmarch (1929), Phar Lap (1930), Wotan (1936), Hiraji (1947), Foxzami (1949), Dalray (1952), and, more recently, Toporoa and Hi Jinx.

The best of the sprint recordholders in New Zealand are Gloaming, Blue Trout, Pastel, Irish Note, Fountainhead, and Yahabeebee, and the 2 mile record-holder is Great Sensation. Gloaming and Blue Trout also registered Australasian records.

The breeding and racing of thoroughbred horses in New Zealand is as much a part of the history of the growth of this Dominion as a pastoral country as is the evolution and development of the flocks and herds that produce the export wealth of the community from wool, meat, and dairy produce. Just as temperate climate, rich pastures, plentiful sunshine, and even rainfall have improved the conformation and quality of imported sheep and cattle strains in New Zealand, so the Dominion's range of soil constituents and pastures and its great diversity of scene and surroundings have made it possible for studmasters to improve on the original thoroughbred strains which they began to import into the colony as far back as the pioneering era. For instance, horse races were held on Petone Beach as part of the celebration of the first anniversary of the founding of Wellington. And this was also the case with other settlements.

But even with skies here a little brighter, the air a little warmer, the soil a little richer, and with no extremes of heat or cold, the New Zealand thorough-bred would not have reached its world eminence without the vigorous, courageous, and sustained policy adopted by breeders of drawing on the best overseas blood lines. From the outset studmasters concentrated on winning sire families in England, Ireland, and France, and the extent to which this continual infusion of new blood is relied upon is indicated by the fact that, in the past 20 years, more than 60 representatives of proved strains in these countries have been brought to New Zealand. Today there are more than 200 thoroughbred sires and over 5,000 brood mares in the Dominion, producing an average of about 3,000 yearlings annually. The racing side of the picture is indicated by an annual training list of between 1,700 and 1,800 horses competing for racing-club stakes in excess of £1,500,000 a year.

The earliest foundations of New Zealand's bloodstock resources were laid in the forties of the last century by such imported sires as Riddlesworth, Figaro, and Aether which were brought out in 1843, and the process was continued in the decades that followed by an enthusiastic company of fanciers, among whom such men as Henry Petre (Otago), Henry Redwood ( q.v. ) (“the father of the New Zealand turf”), G. G. Stead (Canterbury), T. H. Lowry (Hawke's Bay), Sir George Clifford (Canterbury), and the Hazletts and Chisholms of Southland, deserve to be remembered. In 1861 came Traducer, the sire of Sir Modred, one of Canterbury's great horses, and Mermaid, a brood mare of distinction, both of whom left their mark on New Zealand strains. Then followed Musket, the sire of Carbine (1866), St. Leger (1881), Steppe (1886), and Soult (1892).

The rise of the world standard of the New Zealand thoroughbred goes back to the royal stud at Hampton Court which was re-established about 1855 by Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort. From Hampton Court came the brood mare Mersey, the dam of Carbine, who made New Zealand the first country to return to the homeland a strain of blood that was to prove the most significant in the world of the thoroughbred. Carbine's sire was Musket, who arrived in New Zealand in 1866, and influenced the bloodstock of half the world. His progeny included such names as Maxim, Martini-Henry, Nordenfeldt, Hotchkiss, Carbine, and Trenton. Carbine in his day was the greatest horse in the world, and when he was purchased by the Duke of Cumberland, for his English stud, he dominated the world bloodstock scene for generations. His son, Spearmint, his grandson, Spion Kop, and his great-grandson, Felstead, were all Derby winners. The blood of Carbine, like that of his half-brother by Musket, Trenton, is still to be traced today in winning lines everywhere.

With the turn of the century the ranks both of breeders and of bloodstock increased. Martian was the first of the great twentieth century sires, heading the winning sires' list for six years in succession (1913–19) after a brilliant racing career. He was followed by Demosthenes, Solferino, Kilbroney (1915), Lucullus (1915), All Black, the sire of Desert Gold, Absurd, Limond, and Paper Money, all of whom flourished before the twenties and boasted formidable winning progeny records. There was a brief halt in the progress of the thoroughbred industry in the dismal depression atmosphere of the early twenties, but then came Lord Quex (1926–27), sire of Melbourne Cup winner, Catalogue, Chief Ruler (1927–28), sire of Royal Chief, Hunting Song (1932–33), who sired those magnificent steeplechasers, Clarion Call and Brookby Song, Salmagundi, Night Raid, the father of the incomparable Phar Lap, Foxbridge, 11 times at the top of the winning sires list, whose offspring won £725,000, a British Empire and world record, the prolific Balloch, two Derby winners in Coronach and Midday Sun and, of recent years, in alphabetical order, Boissier, Count Rendered, Dogger Bank, Faux Tirage, Gabador, Khorassan, Lucky Bag, Marco Polo II, Oman, Panair, Pride of Kildare, Red Mars, Rolled Gold, Summertime, and Targui.

Throughout the hundred or more years during which horse races have been run in New Zealand, many thousands have flashed past the judge's box first, second, or third (today about 2,000 races are run every year). All have had their day, and their public, but it is doubtful whether any agreement could be reached anywhere as to the names of the best two dozen performers in the history of New Zealand racing. For many the yardstick is stake winnings, for others speed, and for others again, appearance and conformation. To list the great racehorses of the New Zealand turf would be impossible, but a few names have endured and promise to do so as long as the lure of the thoroughbred and the thrill of a few shillings each way on the winner continue to be numbered among the national enthusiasms.

(Ostrea angasi).

This occurs throughout New Zealand and is usually found unattached on the sea bottom, from shallow water mud flats to a depth of about 15 fm. The shell is whitish and scaly and lacks the dark violet edging of other species. The richest beds of these shellfish are in Foveaux Strait, from 10–15 fm, where they are commercially dredged by a fleet of small vessels operating from the port of Bluff. The Maori name for an oyster is tio para.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

(Anomia walteri).

This is not a true oyster. It is 2–3 in. across, with a thin, wrinkled upper valve varying in colour from white to golden orange, but the lower valve, usually flat, is greenish or white with an oval hole through it. Through this opening is a calcified extension of the foot, which fastens the shellfish securely to some solid object such as rock, larger shells, or even wharf piles. The golden valves can be fashioned into very realistic imitation Iceland poppies.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

(Crassostrea glomerata).

This is found only in the upper tidal rocky zone of the northern portion of the North Island and at the Chatham Islands. It cements the lower valve of the shell to the rock and, because of its clustering habit, assumes varied shapes. A conspicuous feature is the dark violet edging to the shell. Rock-oyster beds are State owned and operated, and unauthorised persons taking these oysters in any locality are liable to a heavy penalty. The season for the marketing of rock oysters is usually from May to about the end of September.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

Two species of this wader occur in New Zealand-the South Island pied oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus finschi), which is only subspecifically different from the European bird, and the variable oystercatcher (Haematopus unicolor), which is a species found only in New Zealand. The South Island pied oystercatcher breeds only in the South Island; the variable oystercatcher breeds in North, South, Stewart, and Chatham Islands.

In spite of its scientific name, the variable oyster-catcher (as its common name suggests) may occur in pied or black plumage or in a range of plumages intermediate between these two. It was originally named after the black phase and before it was realised that its other colour phases all belonged to the same species. The South Island pied oyster-catcher, on the other hand, has a constant pied plumage and is noticeably smaller than the variable oystercatcher. Totally black and intermediate mottled forms of the variable oystercatcher will not easily be confused with the South Island pied oystercatcher, but the pied form may be, for it is almost as white below as the South Island pied oystercatcher and also has a white rump. The boundaries between its black and white areas are, however, not so precise below, and there is a mottled band on the leading edges of its underwing surfaces. Its white rump patch is only a band across the base of the tail instead of a broad wedge extending to the middle of the back, as in the South Island pied oystercatcher. And, finally, the white bars on the backs of its wings, as seen in flight, are short and narrow instead of long and broad.

In both species the sexes are very similar in appearance, except that the females are a little bigger than the males. There are differences in behaviour between the two species: the South Island pied oystercatcher breeds inland mainly on shingly river beds; the variable oystercatcher breeds on coastal sand dunes. The South Island pied oystercatcher breeds earlier than the variable and is mainly a migrant, moving to the mudflats of Auckland and Northland in winter, whereas the variable oystercatcher is predominantly sedentary.

The totally black form of the variable oystercatcher is uncommon, except in a few localities in the South Island. It is the dominant oystercatcher about Foveaux Strait.

The long, stout, and orange-red bill, scarlet eyes, and pink legs and feet of both species clearly characterise these waders in the field, as does their shrill flight call of “kleep, kleep”.

Nests are simple scrapes in shingle or sand, and two or three stone-coloured eggs, heavily marked with patches of light or dark brown, are the usual clutch. During the breeding season a trilling, bubbling song is heard.

by Gordon Roy Williams, B.SC.(HONS.)(SYDNEY), Lecturer in Agricultural Zoology, Lincoln Agricultural College.

(Lepsiella scobina).

Although less than an inch in height, this shellfish plays havoc with local oyster beds. The animal uses its teeth (radula) to drill holes through the oyster's shell and then extracts the oyster piecemeal. It takes 45 minutes or less for one of these tiny shellfish to pierce the thick shell of an oyster.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.