TAB NZ releases racing calendar for 2023/24

TAB NZ’s 2023/24 racing calendar features 968 meetings.

New Zealand.- TAB NZ has confirmed its racing calendar for the 2023/24 season. It will be offering 968 meetings through its collaboration with the three racing codes: the New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, Harness Racing New Zealand, and Greyhound Racing New Zealand.

There will be 294 thoroughbred meetings, 242 harness meetings and 432 greyhound meetings for a total of 9,899 individual races. 

It will be the first full season of racing on synthetic surfaces at Cambridge, Awapuni, and Riccarton. Awapuni hosted its inaugural meeting on its synthetic track this month. Greyhound racing will see the use of a straight track at Whanganui Racecourse, adjacent to Hatrick Raceway, from early in the 2023/24 season

Another development is the return of thoroughbred racing at Ellerslie in early 2024. The racecourse is currently undergoing upgrades, including the installation of a StrathAyr track surface. The turf surface at Awapuni Racecourse will also undergo a reconstruction from October.

TAB NZ dates committee chair, Simon Thomas, said: “The creation of the final calendar has been a comprehensive, robust and collaborative process. In developing it, we have worked through a number of changes aiming to give the industry a domestic racing calendar that maximises revenue and reduces the cost of its delivery.”

TAB NZ has reported that its digital channels have recorded 250,000 customers placing bets in 2022. This represents an 11 per cent increase from the previous year’s 225,000 customers. Since August, an average of 78,000 customers have bet with TAB NZ each week, up from 70,000.