HRNZ Conference 2022 Report
The initial part of the first afternoon of the recent HRNZ Annual Conference was taken up with presentations from the TAB and the Racing Integrity Board, the latter repeatedly stressing the emphasis on animal welfare by the Industry and their staff.
That was followed by a ‘State of the Nation’ address by CEO Gary Woodham which didn’t paint a very pretty picture. Although it was somewhat doom and gloom, it was refreshing to hear an honest appraisal of the current situation, as opposed to many previous Conferences I’ve attended where the spin tended to paper over the cracks. Obviously, a number of plans are being put in place to help, many of which were outlined in the Strategic Business Plan. Figures indicating what was discussed are due to be circulated soon, and hopefully they can be published here next week.
Day two of the Conference saw a legal explanation of various aspects of the Racing Act, followed by workshops to come up with ideas about the future size and structure of the HRNZ Board, along with a suitable Club voting model. There were a number of different opinions on these topics, and it will be interesting to see what the final models look like.
The Conference itself, opened by re-elected Chair John Coulam, was a rather abbreviated affair, following the withdrawal of the remits concerning governance, which was already being dealt with, as explained above. There were three remits that concerned the Trainers & Drivers Association. The first was the introduction of a Rule to prevent drivers from talking to each other ‘after entering the track prior to a race’. We had done some work lobbying Clubs in the run up to the Conference, and this seemed to pay off when the remit failed to even gain a seconder, and was despatched to the receptacle where it belonged! The second remit, which we had also done some background work on, concerned celebratory gestures by drivers, and was also soundly defeated. We have recommended that a clause be added to the whip regulations, so that, providing it is done in a safe manner, the reins can be crossed to perform a salute. This is currently under consideration by HRNZ.
The other remit of interest was the suggestion that, in the case of horses galloping in an obvious breach of the Rules, the Stipendiary Stewards can act without referring the matter to the Adjudicative Committee. The Trainers & Drivers agreed with this in order to speed up pay-outs etc., with the guaranteed proviso that, should there be any dispute surrounding their decision, the connections of the horse have the option to place it before the Adjudicative Committee. Another idea has been suggested to speed up proceedings even further and this will be discussed with the RIB in the near future.
Pete Cook