After 29 years supporting and influencing the racing industry in New Zealand, the FLAIR organisation will be shutting down following a final sponsorship at Te Rapa on Saturday.

FLAIR, or For Ladies (and Lads) Advancing Interests In Racing, was introduced following a meeting called by Faye Bax, with the motivation of stronger involvement by females in the country’s racing landscape.

Among the original committee members was Maureen Hood, a lifelong racing enthusiast who remains as Treasurer and Secretary of FLAIR to the present day.

“My father was an owner-trainer and I was brought up on Trentham Racecourse, we never missed a meeting there,” Hood said.

“Faye Bax, who used to work at Te Rapa Racecourse, called a meeting for women at Te Rapa over 29 years ago, and a whole group of us turned up and formed a committee. I was on the original committee and have been ever since, I’ve been president, treasurer and secretary through this time.

“There seemed to be a lot of interest at the time for an organisation like FLAIR, women were sick and tired of racing being a men’s brigade, it was completely run by men back then. Women weren’t really given a thought.

“We fundraised and lobbied people at the start to get funds for our marquee, which was yellow with a black horse on top. We have had some fantastic functions over the years, especially at Te Rapa.”

Some of New Zealand racing’s most iconic female figures have been involved with FLAIR, including the country’s first licensed female jockey and Hall of Fame inductee Linda Jones, and Sheila Laxon, who won her second A$8.6 million Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) with Knight’s Choice on Tuesday.

“Linda Jones has been our patron for many years and is a shining example, she made it easy for females to be jockeys in New Zealand and has been a true pioneer,” Hood said.

“Sheila Laxon was a member for many years, and look at her now, she’s just trained her second Melbourne Cup winner – and I backed it.

“Two of us went to the Stradbroke in June with my grandson, and Knight’s Choice raced in the last of the day and finished second or third paying $18. I told my grandson, put that horse in your blackbook because that horse will be going to the Melbourne Cup, and sure enough, he did.

“We were all at Ellerslie because one of our FLAIR members had a horse in the first race, and we all screamed ourselves silly watching the Cup.”

Over nearly three decades, FLAIR has supported all facets of racing, from racedays to female jockeys, and more recently, the Amateur Rider’s Series run through the winter months.

Photo credit: Race Images

“We’ve sponsored female jockeys such as Claire Western-Arnold and Nicky Chilcott when they were starting out years ago, then at the races, we’ve done lots of different things, such as best presented strapper prizes and sponsoring races,” Hood said.

“We’ve done the Amateur Series for about the last 12-15 years, we thought it was a great idea because all of the amateur’s don’t get paid to ride, it’s all done for love.

“Most of them are strappers, trackwork riders or trainers, and they just embrace it. Each year, we have had more and more riders enter, it’s been very successful.

“Peter Rubery has been generously giving us free photos of each winner to give to the jockey, so they’ve received that alongside a $100 voucher and the series winner, Scotty Macnab, received a trophy at the end of the season.

“We’ve been talking to Peter recently, and just because we’ve finished, we don’t want the series to do the same, and it sounds like he will be taking over the sponsorship which is fantastic. I also talked to Andre Neill on the final day at Woodville and he’s interested as well, so between them, hopefully it can continue.”

On Legacy Lodge Sprint Raceday on November 9, FLAIR will sponsor the final race, aptly named the Flair’s Final Fling (1600m).

“We are sponsoring a race at Te Rapa on Saturday called the Flair’s Final Fling, and having a function in the Herbie Dyke Room for everyone who was a financial member for the last season,” Hood said.

“We’re basically wound up now, it’s just a matter of sorting out our payments and any remaining funds will go to either the Horse Ambulance Trust or the Injured Jockey’s Fund. We’ve got one more committee meeting to sort all of that out.

“The reason why we are winding up is we just can’t get any new blood on the committee, and so many of us have been doing it for so long and are getting a bit older now.

“We’ll miss it, but we can’t do it forever.”

Although FLAIR will be coming to a close, Hood hopes to see the positive trajectory of racing in New Zealand continue, while maintaining some of the foundations enjoyed by members through the years.