Although 10 races were run in the sunshine at the Kurow club's annual meeting, every winner of the Kurow Cup dating back to 1965 was listed in the programme.
Kurow Harness Racing Club president Gerald Cayford, of Waikouaiti, said a lot of work went into keeping grassroots racing alive and well.
"It's all about the racing, families, kids, owners, trainers and really, the industry," he said. "The industry is not going that flash at the moment."
"You've got to be clever," he said.
"There's a lot of time and a lot of work to get to where you want to be. You can't just rely on the racing board and Harness Racing New Zealand to increase your stakes if you're doing nothing yourself."
The Kurow club was in "a great place", but a lot of racing clubs were losing money every year.
While the majority of horses were bred in the South Island, good horses did leave the mainland in search of higher stakes. He said there was room for the grassroots meetings to encourage horses to stay in the South "by giving good stake money".
Mr Cayford, who had a long involvement in racing, was in his third year as Kurow club president, and next year he wanted the minimum to raise to $10,500.
"You set yourself a goal and don't give up. I don't give up."
