New Zealand Jumping Season Commences On Wednesday

Monday, 19 April 2010 07:18

This Wednesday, 21 April sees the start of the 2010 jumping racing season in New Zealand.

The season will run for five months concluding on National Jumps Day, with six jumps races, on Sunday, 26 September at Trentham.

A total of 117 races will be run at 14 venues throughout the country all the way from Auckland down to Riverton.

Eighteen Prestige Jump Races (PJRs) are programmed through the season starting at the Great Western Meeting at Riverton on 9 May.

These races are programmed to run every fortnight, the key events being as follows:

9 May Great Western Steeplechase & Hurdle Riverton

22 May Waikato Steeplechase & Hurdle Waikato

7 June McGregor Grant Steeplechase & KS Browne Hurdle Ellerslie

19 June Manawatu Steeplechase and Awapuni Hurdle Awapuni

3 July Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase & Hurdle Hastings

17 July Wellington Steeplechase & Hurdle Trentham

11 August Grand National Hurdle Riccarton

14 August Grand National Steeplechase Riccarton

21 August Pakuranga Hunt Day Ellerslie

4 September Great Northern Day Ellerslie

One of the primary objectives of NZ Jumps Inc., the national body overseeing the wellbeing of the sport, is to increase national interest in jumping racing.

Statistics from last year’s jumping season show a strong upswing.

Last year the average number of starters per race increased from 9.5 to 10.5 in the 16 PJR events.

In all grades of jumping races there was an overall increase in starter numbers on a monthly basis with the exception of September.

Last season’s average off-course wagering turnover leaped from $117,000 to $142,000 compared to the previous year. This was in contrast to the industry wide trend.

These results show a marked contrast to the position of jumping racing just a few years’s ago, when it was experiencing a season-on-season decline in all areas of activity.

Since jumping racing underwent a restructure two years ago it has demonstrated its value to the industry and is now delivering results that improve the industry’s financial sustainability.