The club has not had a physical base since Forbury Park was decommissioned in July 2021 after the racing industry deemed the St Kilda venue surplus to requirements.
It still has four race meetings this summer, but while two — including Christmas at the Races on Sunday — are close by at the Otago Racing Club’s home, one is at Oamaru and another all the way down at Wyndham.
"We’re working really hard to get another two dates at Wingatui," Forbury Park chairman Lex Williams said yesterday.
"We’re not interested in racing at Oamaru and Wyndham. Nobody goes. It’s just us putting on a meeting for the punter, really. There’s nothing in it for us and we’re not happy doing it.
"We’ll just about give them away if we don’t get those meetings at Wingatui."
Williams said the club’s vision was to get a new Friday-Sunday pair of meetings at Wingatui in the February-March window.
"We’d make it a real good weekend. That would be something we could pump up and make it really special."
Forbury Park was lobbying Harness Racing New Zealand to consider that change and find dates that worked in with the thoroughbred racing calendar, he said.
The club’s other dates this season are January 22 (at Oamaru), March 16 (at Wingatui) and June 19 (at Wyndham).
The March 16 meeting features a return to dual code racing with Beaumont, and Williams is delighted it is back on the calendar.
"They canned it last year but it’s really good news to have it back.
"It’s a great meeting, and Beaumont are great to work with. It just adds something different, a different atmosphere, with having the two codes.
"We’re really looking forward to that."
It has been a period of upheaval for the club since it lost its beloved venue, but Williams believes the future is bright.
Forbury Park had updated its constitution to bring in an eight-strong committee, and there were about a dozen new members at the club.
The sale of the ground also meant the club was financially secure with $1.5million invested and "a bit of money in the bank".
Forbury’s Christmas at the Races meeting on Sunday features 10 races.
"We’ve been able to boost our stakes this weekend to compete with Geraldine [racing on Saturday], and it’s paid off.
"We’ve got great fields — an average of about 12 per race — and we should see some really even racing and good punting."
The club also had 170 people signed up for a dinner on Sunday.
"We’ve got our fingers crossed for a nice day. I think it will be warm and I can’t see it being wet."
■See tomorrow’s Otago Daily Times for Forbury Park previews and fields.
