Omakau readies for annual race meeting

As president of the Central Otago Trotting Club Graham Sinnamon laughs at how things have changed.

On Friday January 2,  Omakau (population around 400) hosts its once-a-year race meeting.

It is a big deal.

“It’s hard to predict numbers but we can get close to 8000 people,” Sinnamon says.

The to-do list is extensive – entertainment, food vendors, traffic management, health and safety, toilets, fashion parades (with around $4000 in prizes!) and much more besides.

“We’ve even got tickets to the Iggy Pop, Joan Jett and Hoodoo Gurus concert at Wanaka at the end of the month.”

And it’s the detail and the complexity of running events these days that makes Sinnamon smile.

“They used to get some Jimmy’s Pies and a small tanker full of beer and mow the grass and call that a raceday!”

Omakau has been hosting meetings for over 50 years.

Sinnamon is in his 11th year as President and is part of a 15-strong committee.

In the past 12 months they have been busy, as he puts it, “future proofing”

“We have spent $100,000 on electrical safety and irrigation schemes.”

There was a time when there were a number of Central Otago-based trainers, including Graham’s father Lionel, and Omakau was their local meeting.

Now there are none – the meeting relies on “outsiders” bringing their horses to this former mining town between Alexandra and Ranfurly.

And they must be doing something right. The meeting, which will feature 12 races, is seen by many racegoers, holiday-makers and others as a real bucket-lister.

But over the years there have been some big hurdles to overcome.

“One year we had one month’s worth of rain in a  day during a fire ban.”

That forced the meeting to be abandoned in 2021, one year after Ricky May’s well-documented health scare when he had to be revived after suffering a medical event during the running of the Omakau Cup.

“We also lost power for an hour during one meeting and in 2024 we had a tornado pay us a surprise visit.”

Weather is, as always, a big stress for Sinnamon.

“I’d much prefer it to be cooler than too hot, and the rain can stay away,” he says.

At this stage the forecast is for 15 degrees (and no rain).

Sinnamon has everything crossed that months and months of planning will pay off.

To see the fields for Friday’s Omakau races click here

by Dave Di Somma, for Harness News Desk