Always back the horse named self-interest, son. It'll be the only one trying
The Auckland Trotting Club was once a Premier Club. In 1990 the Kumeu area supplied a large portion of horses racing at Alexandra Park. There were a number of great horseman, trainers and drivers, based at the Kumeu track. Trials every Sunday would start early and finish late. The yearling parades in the new season […]
RELOCATION OF THE TRAINING TRACK This is looming on the horizon and once the court has completed the documentation the next phase of the sale and purchase agreement will be triggered which incorporates a lease back arrangement for the club whilst we look for an alternative block of land to relocate to. Already we have […]
There are two Group races on the card at Alexandra Park on New Year’s Eve, the time honoured Group 2 Franklin Cup for pacers at its 77th running and the 33rd running of the Group 3 Greenlane Cup for trotters. The races are worth $60 000 and $50 000 respectively, which is good money for […]
Isn’t it perfect to have Len ‘Bubbles’ Oughten in place as the 2nd-in-charge of a trot club that has just received an $8.5 million down payment on its only training facility, the one that it sold at 2020 prices on a pay when you can raise the cash in 2024 deal? This is he, who […]
Auckland harness racing’s woes continue with just 63 horses slated to start tonight at the metropolitan meeting at Alexandra Park, on a card where only 5 of the 8 races boast a field of eight or more runners. Two of the races have miserable fields of just 6 starters, with another having only 7 horses […]
A great article about the future of the trots in the North Island Capital, by Dr Barry Lichter The Auckland Trotting Club is still committed to setting up a new training centre despite revealing it’s likely to have only $15 million left after the sale of Franklin Park. The club’s annual report shows its debt […]
It would be lovely to believe that the Auckland Trotting Club really had made a profit of almost a million dollars for the year, but sadly it didn’t. EBITDA means earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization. After those things were factored in the club actually lost $6.78 million. The club’s asset base dipped by […]
What you see in the picture is what Auckland Trotting Club president and wrist bound timepiece salesman Jamie ‘Watches’ Mackinnon told leading NZ race writer last year about the sale of the Franklin Park training centre at Pukekohe. A key provision in the sale deal was that the club would get a lease that would […]
The extract above from the Auditor’s report in the 2023 Annual Report of the Auckland Trotting Club speaks for itself, and says it all. The club lost $6.8 million last year in real terms, when you take away all the smoke, mirrors and spin (see article to follow). It owes $47.3 million to the banks […]
Graeme Payne is a loyal employee of the Auckland Trotting Club whose job for 16 years until it was restructured used to be running the TAB at Alexandra Park. Payne was initially employed from 2005 to 2013 on an unsigned individual contract that paid him a miserly base salary of $45 000 per year for […]
