Holiday season turnovers up 3.4 per cent

Harness racing turnovers for the busy Christmas – New Year period have seen a more than three per cent rise on last year.

Latest figures from Entain show that turnover on the 10 meetings between Cambridge on Christmas Eve and Omakau on January 2 was 3.4 per cent up on the corresponding time the previous year, with the number of individuals betting on harness racing up 5 per cent.

“It’s been a good time for our sport, we’ve seen some huge crowds at places like Central Otago and Motukarara and turnovers have been strong right across the board,” says HRNZ’s Head of Racing and Wagering Matthew Peden.

Auckland’s New Year’s Eve meeting at Alexandra Park was a particular success. Total turnover on the meeting was $1.48m compared to $822K last year.

“In terms of averages, that equates to $148,000 per race, compared to $103,000 last year so that is a great result for the ATC (Auckland Trotting Club),” says Peden

Gore’s meeting on December 27 was also up, turning over $1.36m, as was Cambridge up from $687K to $904K (but with three extra races) while Omakau, the opening meeting on the Central Otago circuit, was up marginally from $1.39m to $1.43m.

The highest turnover meeting of the holiday break was at Motukarara on December 29, with total turnover of $1.62m.

“One observation about The Mot though was there are challenges with cellphone coverage that impacts people putting bets on, so getting a solution to that is a priority.”

Overall turnover from December 24 – January 2 was $11,668,682 in 2024-25, compared to $11,288,232 in 2023-24.

“Generally speaking it’s a good solid start to 2025 and as always we will be looking at what improvements in all areas, including wagering and the race day experience for everyone,” says Peden.

From Harness Racing New Zealand