New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) is seeking stakeholder feedback on a variety of new initiatives designed to improve the racing product and boost returns to participants.

The features of the Directions paper include plans to introduce an Aotearoa Champions Day race meeting, a Breeders Championship, and a Celebration Day meeting, along with a twilight series and a national synthetic racing series and annual finals day.

An updated venue plan, recommended changes to the group racing pattern, the future of jumping racing and changes to the funding of the traditional handicap features are also covered.

Other initiatives being considered include a bonus series revolved around the feature staying races and a Country Cups series and final.

These options have all been endorsed in principle by the NZTR Board, but the Board is keen to get feedback and further suggestions from industry stakeholders and supporters.

An overview of the wagering market and recent structural changes in the industry is also provided.

Stakeholders have been asked to provide feedback by 30 November.

“This directions paper is in accordance with the commitment we made under the Areas of Action document released earlier this year.  We believe these initiatives have the potential to provide real change, but we want them to be widely discussed and to get feedback from our stakeholders,” NZTR Chief Executive Bernard Saundry said.

The proposal to establish the Aotearoa Champions Day is based around the premise of a race day with a minimum stake of $200,000, probably on an autumn date, which would be rotated among the major metropolitan venues.

As part of the venue plan, it is proposed that Ellerslie, Te Rapa, Hastings, Awapuni, Trentham and Riccarton Park be recognised as the main metropolitan racing venues, once track renovations have been completed in accordance with the current renovation programme. In time, it is anticipated that the main Saturday meeting – and the Group I races - would almost always be run at one of these venues.

A Breeders’ Championship would be a based around a $1m race for four-year-olds that would complement the successful Karaka Million races but is seen as a longer-term project.

A new twilight series is likely to be trialed this summer with 12 North Island Wednesday meetings planned, between 12 January and 30 March, most with a 3pm start.

In addition to being an attraction to domestic fans, it is hoped that the timing of the twilight meetings will appeal to Australian punters.

The massive Australian wagering market is seen as a key potential source of growth for New Zealand racing. The turnover on New Zealand racing put through Australian wagering operators already exceeds that put through TAB NZ.

NZTR is also keen to investigate a return to night racing, though much will depend on identifying the “right” venue and dates. Night racing was first held in New Zealand in the 1980s, at Avondale, but did not prove to be sustainable.

The wagering environment has changed significantly since then. As a result, there may be an opportunity to reintroduce night racing in a way that increases wagering revenue for the industry.

Feedback can be made through an online submission.  A link to this is on Page 2 of the directions paper, which can be found here.