Restrictions regarding attendance at race and trial meetings outside of the greater Auckland region were removed when the bulk of the country returned to alert level 1 on 7 March.

This means that owners and members of the public will be able to freely attend upcoming race meetings at Otaki, Riccarton Park, Trentham and Gore.  Similarly, public entry is possible at tomorrow’s Ruakaka and Rangiora Trials meetings.

With Level 2 restrictions currently in place for the Auckland region until the start of this weekend, current guidance applies for Auckland region race meetings:

• Counties RC meeting at Pukekohe Park on Friday 12 March will be run as a ‘closed door’ meeting, meaning that owners, members and public will be unable to attend in person.
• With regards to the Auckland Cup meeting, please refer to updates on the ticketing section of the Auckland Racing Club website.

With racing conducted at meetings in regions at alert level 1 and alert level 2, the following applies:

• People must not attend a race meeting if experiencing symptoms of cold or flu.
• NZ COVID Tracer APP QR code to be displayed at entrances and other prominent areas.
• Hand sanitisers to be made available for use by participants and attendees.
• Temperature checking to be conducted for riders and for persons who work in the weigh-room.
• Face masks must continue to be worn in Weigh-room, Parade Ring, Birdcage, Starting Gates and Swab Box where a meeting is in a level 2 region.  Mask use is simply ‘encouraged’ where a meeting is in a level 1 region.

The is also noted under the current “Level 1 & 2” protocols:

• Trainers are not required to advise the club of the stable staff who will work at the meeting.
• Health declarations are not required to be provided when entering a meeting.
• Jockeys may now be declared for rides at any meeting, as the inter-island restriction does not apply at this time.
• These amendments are subject to any further changes in the Government’s Covid-19 Health Orders.

For full detail, refer to NZTR Directive: COVID-19 Emergency Regulations - Alert Levels 1 and 2