Roxburgh gears up for next month’s annual meeting

Despite weather related challenges the Roxburgh Trotting Club is on target to run its annual harness racing meeting in Roxburgh on Sunday 4^th January.

The adverse weather across Southland last month affected the delivery of the Club’s new all-weather racing material and Roxburgh’s order had to be put on hold.

“We ordered the grit and Invercargill had that blow so they got a bit and I think Gore did too,” Club President Neville Beckley said.

The original surface came out of Black Hill Quarry and was sand.

“It’s the same as they’ve got at Addington and it just continued to be blown off. With this last blow we probably lost 80% of the track.”

Consequently a decision was made to change the track surface and to use the same grit as Invercargill, Gore, Wyndham and Winton which comes from McGregor’s in Winton.

Beckley says such has been the demand on the material McGregor’s have had to send trucks up Te Anau to replenish supplies.

“We’ve put on 240 tonnes so far and it’s come up pretty good.”

John Denton from HRNZ is due at Roxburgh for a track inspection on the 16^th December and the new surface is expected to be signed off then.

The Club has also been busy completing a new sponsors area.

“We had that up last year but it wasn’t finished. We’ve finished is all off and extended it another two metres out the front and put nice railing up.”

An additional covered area for sponsors is planned but high winds last month put paid to that too.

“We had the money, the pricing done and luckily we didn’t start it. We lost part of the stables and had to lift the roof and put new timber underneath. The surplus we had got gobbled up on the track and the stables again. It’s a bit gutting really because we wanted to put it back into sponsors.”

Beckley added that a horse paddock will be available this year should trainers want to stay over.

The main race on the day is the $25,000 Peters Genetics Roxburgh Cup. This will be the twelfth year that Peters Genetics have sponsored the Cup.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink