New Zealand is now in day two of lockdown and with the majority of our training centres now in lockdown, with horses out in the spelling paddock, we are considering the future.

There is no doubt that whatever racing there might be for the remainder of this season will have no resemblance to what is currently in our calendar.  Likewise, the beginning of the 2020-21 racing calendar will be a very different beast to previous seasons.

Rather than dwell on the downside of this, I believe our industry should be focusing on the opportunity the lockdown has given us to reset our industry.  We can use this as an opportunity to do things differently, change things up and create a model which will sustain us into the future.

We already have a team working on various permutations of what a resumption of racing might look like.  There are some interesting ideas being thrown around and everything will be considered.

While the group we have put together does possess extensive experience and knowledge, we also acknowledge that no one has a mortgage on good ideas.  There will be industry participants out there who are also pondering racing’s future.  If you have any thoughts on how you think racing could restructure itself as we rebuild from the impact of COVID-19 then please share them via email with Dan.Smith@nztr.co.nz

We recognise that these are very uncertain times, not only for the industry, but also the rest of the country.  Those of you who are worried about the financial aspects of your business should be making use of the government’s relief package.  If you require some direction as to how to go about this licence holders should contact their respective Associations in the first instance (NZTA, Wendy Cooper nztrainersassn@gmail.com and NZJA, Dave Taylor taylordave@xtra.co.nz).  Clubs have already had contact from NZTR’s liaison in this area, Leanne Meredith and Justine Sclater is also doing a wonderful job providing information for members of the Breeders’ Association.

Following questions from some licence holders operating their businesses from their own properties we have re-issued our directives around the protocols for exercising horses while in lockdown.  This updated version takes into account those people and their requirements.

One thing we would stress though, and that is that at this time our emergency services and hospitals have one focus and it is not going to be tending to someone who has fallen off a horse.  We encourage you to use your common sense and not put unnecessary strain on our health system.

As we go through the lockdown period I will continue to keep you updated with any steps NZTR is taking around getting New Zealand racing back up and running.  In the meantime, stay in your bubble, do the right thing and stay safe.