Te Akau: From 1900 On

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 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.

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 MP, 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.

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.

The growth of racing in the post-war years was even more marked than in the early 1920s. Race permits were not restored immediately after 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.  Today it is headquartered in the New Zealand Racing Board building in Petone, Wellington and is governed by a Board board appointed by a college of governors.

Horse racing in New Zealand today is controlled by the New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing which, consistent with its origin, is an association of the clubs registered under its rules. New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing does not run race meetings, as it is a purely legislative and administrative body.