Three synthetic tracks to be used in next Thoroughbred season

Riccarton Park
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Three synthetic surfaces will be used for horse racing in New Zealand next season.

The 2023/24 New Zealand racing calendar has been confirmed with 968 meetings scheduled for the upcoming racing season.

TAB NZ and the three racing codes – New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, Harness Racing New Zealand and Greyhound Racing New Zealand – have collaborated closely to produce the calendar in its final form.

A feature of next season’s calendar is the use of newer and rejuvenated tracks by the racing codes.

The first full season of thoroughbred racing on three synthetic surfaces at Cambridge, Awapuni and Riccarton will be run, with Awapuni having held its first meeting on the synthetic track in early May 2023.

A straight track for greyhound racing at Whanganui Racecourse – adjacent to Hatrick Raceway – is expected to be in use from early in the 2023/24 season.

The 2023/24 season, which starts on August 1st, will also see the return of thoroughbred racing at Ellerslie in early 2024, which is currently being upgraded to a StrathAyr track surface.

The turf surface at Awapuni Racecourse will undergo a full reconstruction from October.

“The creation of the final calendar has been a comprehensive, robust and collaborative process,” TAB NZ Dates Committee Chair Simon Thomas says.

“In developing it, we have worked through a number of changes aiming to give the industry a domestic racing calendar that maximises revenue and reduces the cost of its delivery.”

The 968 meetings in the 2023/24 season will be made up of 294 thoroughbred meetings, 242 harness meetings and 432 greyhound meetings with a total of 9,899 individual races to be run across those 968 meetings.