A century of harness racing in Marlborough will be celebrated at Waterlea Racecourse on Friday and Sunday.
The Marlborough Harness Racing Club’s annual two-day summer meeting will mark the commencement of harness racing at the Waterlea venue 100 years ago.
The inaugural meeting at Waterlea took place on Friday, March 12 1920.
Since 1920, trials, OTB (owners, trainers and breeders) and tote meetings have been held at the central Blenheim location. The only exception came during World War 2 when no meetings were held between 1939 and 1945.
The Marlborough area has facilitated horse racing for more than 150 years. The current Marlborough Trotting/Harness Racing Club commenced operations at the Riverlands course in February 1913 and raced there until the final meeting in 1919 when the action moved to Blenheim.
The Waterlea course opened in 1920, with the first thoroughbred meeting held on March 10 and the historic trotting meeting two days later.
Trotting races have been included on the card at many of the thoroughbred meetings held in the ensuing century, although not every season.
Waterlea soon developed as a spectator-friendly venue. A new members and stewards stand was completed in 1977 with the public stand being developed in the late 1980s.
The Waterlea grass track is utilised by both racing codes with an all-weather harness track becoming operational from December, 1981.
Courtesy of The Marlborough Weekly