Another change could be coming to Oamaru racing. The future of the town’s racecourse is under a cloud but that is not the only reason the Oamaru Jockey Club wants to pursue a more formal link with big brother at Wingatui. Oamaru president Nigel Rooney said the club was talking to the Otago Racing Club about how a new relationship might look. He compared it to the situation of the Canterbury Jockey Club, which has a bunch of its smaller compadres under its wing at Riccarton. “It’s early days but we’re looking at doing something similar to what Riccarton does,” Rooney said. “Our initial discussions are about doing something like that with Oamaru fitting into the umbrella of the Otago Racing Club. “We’ll use the Canterbury example as a bit of a blueprint and go with some sort of a set-up like that. “Unlike the Canterbury one, where they all relinquished their venues or were told to lose their venues, we still want to fight to retain the Oamaru venue.” The Oamaru club already gets looked after well by the Otago club. ORC staff do a lot of administrative and race-day services work for their Oamaru colleagues. Rooney said the demands of a modern club, especially around finance and things like health and safety, meant it was timely to look at how a small organisation could survive but effectively let a bigger club take over. “The day of the amateurs being able to do all this stuff is really just getting a wee bit too much, and we’ve recognised that for quite some time. “We think that it’s time to do the job with Otago, which was something that’s been on the radar for a long time. “If we can get ourselves in with a stronger club, but keep the identity of Oamaru, we can also fight to retain the venue.” The Oamaru club had a good relationship with Wingatui headquarters, Rooney said. Otago had also raced at the Oamaru course in the past during some wetter springs that meant Wingatui needed some time off to prepare for its big event on Melbourne Cup Day. Otago Racing Club general manager Noelle Prince said it was too early to say exactly how a future link with Oamaru would take shape. The ORC’s focus for now was supporting Oamaru before its meeting with the national codes. “The Otago Racing Club is open to discussing a range of options, including a merger or amalgamation if that is ultimately considered to be in the best interests of both clubs and the future of racing in the region,” Prince said. “However, any firm plans will need to wait until after next week’s meeting and further discussions have taken place with both committees and members.” Prince emphasised that, whatever happened, Otago wanted to see the “vital” Oamaru racing dates retained in the calendar.
