By Brian de Lore
Published 21 September 2017
Cambridge Stud boss Sir Patrick Hogan has this week declared his allegiance to Winston Peters and NZ First following the party’s announcement last week supporting the racing industry’s urgent need for an all-weather racing surface.
In a surprise announcement made in a media release last Friday by NZ First’s associate spokesperson for racing Clayton Mitchell MP, the party declared its recognition and support for a state-of-the-art all-weather racing surface for the betterment of New Zealand racing and a foil against abandonments.
But don’t think the announcement suddenly won Hogan over to support NZ First; that’s not the case at all. What it did do was prompt the leviathan stud owner to publicly voice his support for an industry that he believes badly needs leadership, some restructuring and innovations which happen to include a modern, all-weather racing surface.
“NZ First has a good track record doing things for racing,” explained Hogan in a frank interview this week. “This is a huge, huge opportunity; along with its racing policy to have NZ First add its support to build an all-weather track is a huge leg-up, and if Winston Peters does end up being king or queen-maker, whichever way it goes, and takes the portfolio of minister of racing which he’s passionate about, we have nothing to lose by picking up the opportunity presented here.
“No other minister of racing has ever done anything for us. He has proved himself, and therefore we have only got ourselves to blame if we don’t take this opportunity – bang on! – we have to make sure that we support NZ First with the party vote on Saturday.”
To hear Hogan talk so openly in this manner was not only surprising but also music to the writer’s ears, as one might surmise it would be music to the ears of many people devoted to racing who have struggled over many years and advocated change and a better return to all stakeholders.
For someone so successful in the thoroughbred business over such a long period, Patrick Hogan has been a surprisingly quiet voice over the years, certainly on the political side of the industry. When suggested it was more than marginally un-Patrick like for him to voice this type of opinion he replied:
“The thing is, I’m not one who has stuck my nose in the political mix and become an annoyance to the industry over the 60 years I’ve been in it, but I have been able to see what’s happening, and although I haven’t ruffled any feathers I’m now at an age now where I can see all these things – especially now – I have to say something.
“It’s so annoying, and I just have to say it. Hopefully, whatever I say for the first time, and I have come out and said these things – and I can’t really put words to it – I am saying what I believe that hasn’t been done and also the things that are there that shouldn’t be there.”
It was a very different Patrick Hogan to the person I had first encountered by appointment in the members’ bar at Randwick racecourse in the autumn of 1979. The purpose of that encounter was to plan a promotion around his new stallion purchase, Marceau, a son of Kaoru Star which Hogan had thought should be promoted back to the Aussies in his first season at Cambridge Stud.
In those days Hogan was the outgoing entrepreneur, full of hope and new ideas for his fledgling stud farm. Now, almost four decades later, post-Sir Tristram and Zabeel with a few lesser names that will test the memory in between, we find a much more reflective Patrick Hogan but a man who still possesses the entrepreneurial spirit and sees an opportunity to be seized.
But to digress from the all-weather track for a moment and while Hogan was on a roll, talkative and willing to state his take on the industry, what about the state of our industry today?
“The NZRB is not interested in giving the stakeholders and everyone else connected to racing and breeding what they need to sustain a decent living,” he continued. “They are not interested – only interested in racing from their viewpoint in that it exists within their four walls in Wellington.
“It doesn’t go any further – doesn’t reach out to our industry – they seem to think the racing business performs and succeeds within those four walls and that’s where the money should be spent – not one of them would get a job on my stud farm because they would send it broke.
“And this thing about the present political party, and for the Minister of Racing to say that the racing board is a statutory body and so it’s governmental and he can’t do anything about it – get in there and do something about it!
“His answer to that is that he is there to oversee it and not to interfere. So it’s time that it wasn’t a statutory body, and they butted out and had nothing to do with it.”
But the primary reason for our chat was not the vagaries of the NZRB which have been well-documented here in recent times, but for Hogan to espouse his belief in an all-weather track and why he wants Winston Peters back in charge of the racing portfolio.
“Most of us in the industry have been crying out for an all-weather track with 34 meetings abandoned last season, and we have to start somewhere,” Hogan continued. “The industry is not going to build three to start with but without a doubt, we need one track, and one would be a start. It’s not going to be affordable to do more than one at the beginning.
“The Waikato region badly needs one first; that’s where the population is. You only have to look at the Cambridge where there’s over a thousand horses trained and Matamata where there’s over 700, and it’s not just a case of winter, it’s now a case of wet tracks from autumn to spring – they are too wet to be racing on for six months of the year.
“I don’t want to be too specific on what type of all-weather or where it should be. If Winston became minister, then it will go ahead and then it can be decided where. They’re going to stump up with the money; it will be state-of-the-art track and with the population being in the upper North Island it’s obvious that’s where it has to be.
“In this election, there’s only one horse to back as far as I’m concerned. It’s NZ First who has the race record – twice he’s been there, and it’s now up to us to give the party vote to them, or we are not helping ourselves.
“The details have to be done after the election. Clayton Mitchell said that they are supportive of an all-weather track and I know Winston well enough that if he says he’s supporting it, then he will make it happen. He’s the only parliamentarian that’s had any passion for our business.
“Winston has made the announcement, and we have to get out there and support it, take it as positively as we can. The whole industry can’t afford to miss this opportunity – they are the only political party that has proved themselves in the past.
“Every eligible voter that has anything to do with the industry should get behind it and give us the opportunity for an all-weather track. It’s up to us. Winston has done his bit, and this is the only way we will get it.”
Hogan and the Chittick family at Waikato Stud have between them not only been the most successful commercial breeders in New Zealand over the past 35 years but have also each supported the industry as owners to the tune of more than $1 million in training fees annually over recent years.
Both know the value of stake-money and would fully understand the benefits of an all-weather surface and the possibilities of a new government and racing minister.
“In my time as a racing administrator we sought support from all political parties to enhance racing’s place,” said Garry Chittick this week. “Not only as a sport but as an important part of our culture and branding.
“It is well recognised that our industry is a significant employer of people of all levels of skill. To be fair, NZ First is the political party that has not only recognised our importance but delivered in a big way with the reduction in betting duty after they committed themselves to it.
“Their commitment to further support the racing industry is entitled to be taken seriously. Racing people should read the NZ First racing policy and vote accordingly,” concluded Chittick.
