As at Thursday 7 October 4:00pm

Earlier this afternoon, the New Zealand Government announced that additional areas of the Waikato region will move to Alert Level 3 at 11:59pm tonight (Thursday), with this to be reviewed on Monday 11 October.

Notably, this new Waikato Alert Level 3 area now encompasses Cambridge, but not Matamata.

Impact on race meetings and trials

• The Taupo trials, scheduled for Friday 8 October, have been postponed, with a new date to be advised in coming days
• The Timaru race meeting, scheduled for Friday 8 October, will proceed as scheduled
• The Matamata race meeting, scheduled for Saturday 9 October, will proceed as scheduled
• The Hawera race meeting, scheduled for Saturday 9 October, will proceed as scheduled
• The Invercargill race meeting, scheduled for Sunday 10 October, will proceed as scheduled

Vaccination certificates

• Earlier in the week, the New Zealand Government announced that vaccination certificates are likely to be key to attending major events from November
• We expect that vaccination certificates will therefore be required to attend our racing events, making it more important than ever that both racing participants and enthusiasts get vaccinated as soon as possible, to ensure that they will both be able to participate in and attend racedays

Permanent relocation

(Following feedback - please note that below is provided as guidance with respect to the current government laws relating to permanent or long-term relocation from within an Alert Level 3 region to an Alert Level 2 region; and does not apply when a person is moving from a Level 2 region to another Level 2 region)

Last week, the Government announced that people inside an Alert Level 3 area could leave that area, in some circumstances, if they were relocating their principal residence on a permanent or long-term basis.

NZTR believes that where a person has genuinely relocated, they ought to be able to participate in thoroughbred racing, but also believes that participants outside Alert Level 3 areas are entitled to some assurance that such participation will be safe.

In striking a balance between those considerations, NZTR has reached the following position.

A person who relocates their primary residence outside of an Alert Level 3 area will be allowed to participate in the industry without restriction, provided the person has:

• Relocated in accordance with the Government’s travel permission – i.e. they have relocated on a permanent or long-term basis because they are starting a new job, attending tertiary education, or have bought or are renting a new principal home or place of residence; and
• Successfully crossed the Alert Level boundaries in accordance with Government requirements – at the time of writing, this includes carrying evidence of their relocation such as a tenancy agreement or utilities bill at their new address, and presenting a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of crossing the border; and
• Notified NZTR in writing once they have arrived at their new destination; and
• Before attending a race meeting, notified NZTR that they have either:
  • received at least one vaccination against Covid-19; or
  • been advised that they are medically unable to be vaccinated; or 
  • returned a negative test for Covid-19 since relocating.

NZTR has been advised by the Government that travel for the purpose of relocation is not intended to enable temporary relocation or routine cross-border travel. NZTR’s expectation is that, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, a person who has relocated their primary residence out of an Alert Level 3 region will not return to the region while it remains at Alert Level 3.