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Racing Tauranga (Organisation)
Racing Tauranga maintain the Tauranga Racecourse Event Centre, hosting community groups, and events including approximately 12 thoroughbred race meetings and one harness meeting each season with a combined annual raceday attendance in 2021 of 26,000.
This article includes:
TIMELINE
This timeline is not comprehensive. Many more references to the Jockey Club (under various names) and race meetings will be found by searching Papers Past.
1871 January 2(?) - Tauranga Race meeting reported in Daily Southern Cross of Monday 9 January 1871.
1872 October 16 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 - If we are to have a meeting at Christmas or New Year's time, our sporting friends should be up and doing.
1872 October 30 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - A meeting of gentlemen interested in the next event.
1872 November 9 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 - a meeting was held at the Tauranga Hotel to appoint stewards and organise a race meeting.
1872 November 23 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 1 - Tauranga Races, 1873, To be held on WEDNESDAY, January 1, 1873 (by kind permission of Major Roberts, officer Commanding the District), on the GOVERNMENT GROUNDS, TAURANGA.
1872 November 23 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - A meeting of the members of the Race Committee was held on Wednesday evening last at the Masonic Hotel.
1872 December 4 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 - A meeting of the race stewards was held at the Tauranga Hotel on Saturday evening.
1872 December 25 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 - A review of potential runners.
1873 January 4 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 ["extraordinary meeting of the Race Stewards"] and Page 3 "New Year's Day. Tauranga races" where eight races were held on the Government Paddock Course, with eleven participants in the Tauranga Hack Plate.
1873 August 9 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Editorial encourages Jockey Club to apply for the land in Greerton reserved as a racecourse.
1873 August 16 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 - Letter to the Editor from Roger Hill urging the Jockey club take up the government offer of land.
1873 August 23 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Provisional Committee set up to establish a Jockey club that would elect trustees to have the Greerton land conveyed by the Government.
1873 August 27 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Tauranga Jockey Club members meet to receive report of Provisional Committee - 33 gentlemen want to become members.
1873 November 26 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 - Tauranga Jockey Club stewards meet to set date for 1874 meeting and inspect the course.
1873 December 6 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - [Jockey Club summer meeting advertised] and [subscriptions called for] while [Club stewards met to ask Captain Chadwick to join them]
1873 December 13 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 1 [Tauranga Annual Races to be held on Thursday, the 8th day of January, 1874, on the new race course] and Page 3 [The Native Minister's visit - race stewards are delegated to ask him for the course to be vested in their trustees].
1874 January 14 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 [Report of the successful Tauranga Races held on Thursday 8 January].
1874 April 25 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 [Why aren't the stewards of the Tauranga Jockey Club doing something with the reserve allotted them?].
1875 January 23 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Description of very successful meeting held at new race course on 20 January, which was promoted in the paper of 20 January [neither are available on Microfilm or Papers Past].
1876 June 17 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Local and General [Mr T. D. Wrigley was elected Treasurer and Secretary of the Jockey Club by its stewards after the resignation of Mr W. B. Langbridge].
1876 December 6 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 - Local and General [Meeting to consider the re-establishment of the Jockey Club decided to form a committee to support that intention].
1877 September 15 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 - Tauranga Jockey Club [meets to consider telegram from Capt. Morris, M.H.R. saying the Race Course will be vested in Trustees].
1877 September 19 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Local and General [a further telegram from Capt. Morris says the Course will be vested in the County Council for recreation purposes].
1878 November 14 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Local and General [Tauranga Jockey Club to meet and draw up a programme for a race meeting next January].
1878 November 26 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 Tauranga Jockey Club [holds a public meeting to select officers and stewards and set the date of 29 January 1879 for the next meeting].
1879 February 11 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 - Meeting at the Temperance Hall. The Race Course and Recreation Ground [Capt. Morris says it has to be gazetted as a racecourse and recreation ground, but there needs to be agreement on the trustees].
1879 February 18 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Advertisement and notice, a public meeting is convened to be held at the Commercial"Hotel, on Wednesday, the 19th inst., at 8 p.m. sharp. Re Formation of Tauranga Jockey Club and Race-course improvements.
1879 May 15 - New Zealand Gazette No. 51, Page 634 - Tauranga Racecourse and Recreation-ground brought under the "Public Domains Act, 1860".
1879 May 24 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - [Editorial column includes a hard-to-read paragraph reporting the above Gazette Notice, and the subsequent one appointing five members to the Tauranga Domain Board].
1879 July 17 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - The Race-course and recreation ground : To the editor [from 'A Trustee"].
1879 August 21 - Bay of Plenty times Page 2 - Tenders : race-course and recreation ground - Domain Board to lease 102 Acres for 21 years.
1880 January 31 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 - Tauranga Jockey Club : Annual meeting 29-30 January : First Day - Thursday : Second Day - Friday
1881 January 18 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Tauranga Jockey Club [Stewards meet to finalise arrangements for this year's event and seek tenders for gates].
1882 January 28 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Tauranga Jockey Club : meeting of stewards [to receive acceptances and entrances for the race meeting on 30 and 31 January].
1883 May 24 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Borough Council (continued from last issue) [approves Jockey Club request to hold a meeting on the foreshore next Thursday].
1883 November 13 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Horse racing was held at 'Topcroft' on 9 November.
1890 November 28 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - The Bay of Plenty Jockey Club : inaugural meeting [held on Wednesday evening, resolved that it "have no connection with any previous club" and a Committee formed].
1893 March 3 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 4 - Otumoetai Races "came off yesterday afternoon and were a great success".
1898 July 1 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Bay of Plenty Jockey Club : annual meeting [moved and carried that a properly constituted Jockey Club be formed "which would be able to conduct the race meeting without appealing to the public". New rules were adopted and officers appointed].
1905 January 16 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 2 - Tauranga Hack Racing Club [formed at a meeting on Saturday in Mr A. F. Tunks's office].
1912 February 9 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 4 - [Editorial] Bay of Plenty Jockey Club [is investing in new facilities now it has a totalisator permit].
1912 August 5 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 4 - Local and General ["Considerable improvements have been effected of late to the racing track on the Gate Pa course."].
1916 December 9 - Bay of Plenty Jockey Club Programme from Guinness Brothers archive.
1929 - Council Minute Book 9, Page 156
1930 March 20 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 - Tauranga races - meeting at Gate Pa on Saturday : excellent prospects [record acceptance list, good prospects for totalisator investments, the course in excellent order].
1933 - Council Minute Book 11, Page 43 - Racecourse Domain Transfer.
1936 August 5 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 3 - Jockey Club change in name : Bay of Plenty Racing Club : decision by members [after much debate].
1965 March 6 - Tauranga Photo News Page 45 - Windy weather! [torrential rain and a whirlwind damaged the doubles tote building].
1975(?) October 12 - [Notes from an interview with William Grant. Page 4 recalls his work on the Race Course c1920s].
1982 October 2 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 18 - Betting boost for BOP club [Bay of Plenty Racing Club's annual general meeting reported a cash surplus of $27,459 on an on-course turnover of $2,626,192 for the 1981-82 season].
1997 September 4 - Bay of Plenty Times - Racing has seen plenty of changes [Brief history of horse racing in Tauranga 1960s-1990s in the paper's 125th anniversary supplement].
PEOPLE
Bob Silson - travelled to Japan in 1966 as President of the Club, establishing links for the later Japan/NZ Trophy.
Robert Arthur Owens (Bob), 1921-1999 - established the Stars Travel Handicap while Vice-President. Also Patron of the Bay of Plenty Trotting Club.
- 1982 October 2 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 18 - Owens : [New Zealand Racing] Conference a costly failure [that is not helping resolve the industry's rising cost crisis].
James Christie (Jim) Pender - long-time trainer at Tauranga Race course
- 1998 March 21 - Bay of Plenty Times Page 35 - Pender's thunder [feature length interview].
- 2014 January 13 - Bay of Plenty Times - Horse racing : Pender goes ton-up at home [trained his 100th winner on his home track].
See also: Fashion in the Field - Tauranga Racing (Event) and Tauranga Racecourse (Place).
Bellamy, A.C. (1982). Chronological table in Tauranga 1882-1982, p. 260-284Bellamy, A.C. and McKenzie, G. (1982). Mr Robert Arthur Owens in Tauranga 1882-1982, p. 46Racing Tauranaga. (n.d.). About Us: The history of Racing TaurangaRacing Tauranga. (2022). Racing Tauranga Fact Sheet.Sun Live. (2024, October 11). Tauranga's horse racing history
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