Waikato Racing Club Announces Chairman

Credit Aidan Rodley - Racing Editor Waikato Times

Karyn Fenton-Ellis is the Waikato Racing Club's new chairman.

Perhaps most widely recognised as a long-serving Trackside presenter and host of the weekly First Call programme, Fenton-Ellis has a proud history in leadership roles, most notably as a former world president of the Jaycees.

She was elected unopposed at Thursday's annual meeting as the successor to David Smith, who has spent the past 11 years in the to job at Te Rapa.Smith and long-serving club general manager Tony Enting were last night honoured with life memberships.

Fenton-Ellis, nominated by Sir Patrick Hogan, becomes the first woman to serve as club chairman at Te Rapa or any major metropolitan club in New Zealand. She follows her husband, David Ellis, as a Waikato Racing Club chairman, also believed to be first in New Zealand.

Fenton-Ellis said she had a vision of progress for the club. ''I am incredibly excited about the future of the Waikato Racing Club, especially with the recent appointment of Ken Rutherford to the position of general manager,'' she said.

''Watch this space - this club has a proud history and the best track in the country. Our board has ambitious plans for the club and I know that Waikato businesses will want to be part of this action.''

Hamilton should be proud to have an organisation of the WRC's calibre right in the heart of the city. The WRC will be a blue print for entertainment and sporting success and we will be ensuring that everyone in the Waikato knows that nothing matches the thrill of going racing at Te Rapa."

Fenton-Ellis praised the work of outgoing club leaders Smith and Enting, who recently retired after 24 years as the club's general manager.

She described Enting as ''one of the most outstanding and capable administrators the New Zealand racing industry has known''.

''David Smith led the Waikato Racing Club with great strength and vision during tough economic times for all clubs,'' she said. ''It was absolutely appropriate that the dedication and commitment of both David Smith and Tony Enting has been formally recognised by the board which has bestowed life membership on the pair.''

Karyn Fenton-Ellis, who was given the media excellence award at last year's New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Awards, is an integral cog in the powerhouse Te Akau Racing Stable and is a keen breeder and ownerherself, most recently gaining prominence with promising Saperavi filly Enhance, a debut winner at Te Rapa earlier this month.
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Appropriately that win came on a special farewell raceday for Smith.

- © Fairfax NZ News