Raceday return could bring Waipukurau a financial boost, next Hastings racing Spring Carnival is in 2026
But Wairoa Racing Club president Paul Toothill, who is fighting for the reinstatement of racing at the town's Te Kupenga racecourse, learned of the plans only through media and is yet to discuss it with his committee.
The Wairoa Cup was to have been raced this year at South Wairarapa course Tauherenikau, but neither the club nor the town's businesses supported the venture because of the disconnect between their event and the fact it would be raced on a track 380km away.
The biggest prize for Waipukurau is the 2200m Hawke's Bay Cup, with a history dating back to 1860, and which had stakes of $120,000 when raced at Trentham last month. It will be raced next at Waipukurau next April 26.
Waipukurau's good fortune was announced by Waipukurau club president Kirsty Lawrence on Wednesday, ahead of an HBR meeting in Hastings at which horse owners, trainers and members were told racing should return to the Hastings track in time for the 2026 Spring Carnival.
Well over $1 million is expected to be spent on cambering and other track correction work, which HBR and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing say will sustain racing in Hawke's Bay well into the future.
The benefits for Waipukurau have been highlighted by the manager and part-owner of the Leopard Hotel (aka Waipukurau Hotel).
Taj Singh said past owners have told him its nine rooms and three-roomed family suite are likely to be booked out on at least one night for each of the race meetings.
Opened in 1963 and thus a host of racing visitors for almost 60 years, it is otherwise only fully booked about once every two months, he said, and it relies on big events.
Mayor Alex Walker was unavailable for comment by Thursday afternoon.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Apple TV+ Strikes Multi-Year, First-Look Deal With Chernin Entertainment
Apple TV+ has entered into a multi-year, first-look deal with The North Road Company's Chernin Entertainment, the company announced Sunday. Chernin Entertainment's stable includes 'Hidden Figures,' 'The Greatest Showman,' and 'Planet of the Apes.' Chernin Entertainment also produces the upcoming Jason Momoa epic 'Chief of War' about the unification and colonization of Hawai'i at the turn of the 18th century. The miniseries will debut on August 1, 2025. The North Road Company was founded in 2022 by Peter Chernin. The company quickly established itself as a major player in scripted, unscripted, and documentary content. Its additional labels include Kinetic Content ('Love is Blind' and 'Married at First Sight'), Words + Pictures and more. Apple Original Films will also release 'F1 The Movie' in June 2025 and 'Highest 2 Lowest,' which reunites Spike Lee and Denzel Washignton for the fifth time, in August. More to come… The post Apple TV+ Strikes Multi-Year, First-Look Deal With Chernin Entertainment appeared first on TheWrap.
CBS News
30 minutes ago
- CBS News
Judge orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia's release before trial, but he will likely be detained by ICE
A Tennessee judge on Sunday ordered the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation has become a flashpoint in President Trump's immigration crackdown, while he awaits a federal trial on human smuggling charges. But he is not expected to be allowed to go free. At his June 13 detention hearing, prosecutors said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would take Abrego Garcia into custody if he were released on the criminal charges, and he could be deported before he has a chance to stand trial. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to discuss the conditions of Abrego Garcia's release. The U.S. government has already filed a motion to appeal the judge's release order. Holmes acknowledged in her ruling Sunday that determining whether Abrego Garcia should be released is "little more than an academic exercise" because ICE will likely detain him. But the judge wrote that everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence and "a full and fair determination of whether he must remain in federal custody pending trial." Holmes wrote that the government failed to prove that Abrego was a flight risk, that he posed a danger to the community or that he would interfere with proceedings if released. "Overall, the Court cannot find from the evidence presented that Abrego's release clearly and convincingly poses an irremediable danger to other persons or to the community," the judge wrote. Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges that his attorneys have characterized as an attempt to justify the deportation mistake after the fact. The acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, Rob McGuire, argued on June 13 that the likely attempt by ICE to try to deport him was one reason to keep him in jail. But Holmes said then that she had no intention of "getting in the middle of any ICE hold." "If I elect to release Mr. Abrego, I will impose conditions of release, and the U.S. Marshal will release him." If he is released into ICE custody, that is "above my pay grade," she said. The judge suggested that the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security could work out between themselves whether the government's priority is to try him on the criminal charges or deport him. No date has been set for the trial. Will Allensworth, an assistant federal public defender representing Abrego Garcia at the detention hearing, told Holmes that "it's not necessarily accurate that he would be immediately deported." A 2019 immigration judge's order prevents Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland, from being deported to his home country of El Salvador, Allensworth said in court. That's because he faces a credible threat from gangs there, according to court papers. The government could deport him to a third country, but immigration officials would first be required to show that third country was willing to keep him and not simply deport him back to El Salvador, Allensworth said. The smuggling charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding in Tennessee during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Although officers suspected possible smuggling, he was allowed to go on his way with only a warning. At the detention hearing, McGuire said cooperating witnesses have accused Abrego Garcia of trafficking drugs and firearms and of abusing the women he transported, among other claims. Although he is not charged with such crimes, McGuire said they showed Abrego Garcia to be a dangerous person who should remain in jail pretrial. Abrego Garcia's attorneys have characterized the smuggling case as a desperate attempt to justify the mistaken deportation. The investigation was launched weeks after the U.S. government deported Abrego Garcia and the Supreme Court ordered the administration to facilitate his return amid mounting public pressure. Chris Newman, an attorney who represents Abrego Garcia's family, previously told CBS News, "The Trump administration is very invested in making this a referendum on the immigration debate, which, as you know, has become coarsened and polarized." "And that is one way to look at it. And I think certainly a lot of people view it that way. I don't view it that way. I view this as a core constitutional order case, a core due process case," Newman said. "And it just so happens that a Salvadoran immigrant is defending bedrock constitutional protections for all of us." Most people in ICE custody who are facing criminal charges are not kept in the U.S. for trial but deported, Ohio State University law professor César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández said. The U.S. will likely try to deport Abrego Garcia quickly without going before an immigration judge, the professor said. The government would not need a conviction to deport him because Abrego Garcia came to the U.S. illegally. "The legal standard is laxer," García Hernández said. "The government's argument is on stronger legal footing." However an immigration judge rules, the decision can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, García Hernández said. And the board's ruling can then be contested in a federal appeals court.
North Wales Chronicle
30 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Younger workers in England face ‘place-based' pay penalty, study warns
An average employee in London earns nearly twice as much as the equivalent in Liskeard, in Cornwall, research by the Resolution Foundation showed. The analysis suggests that higher wages are not driven by the people that work there, but by the place in which they work. This leads to a full-time worker early on in their career suffering a 5% 'place-based pay penalty', according to the think tank. This could be worth about £1,300 year if they move from a typical high-paying jobs market, such as Harrogate, to a low-paying one, such as Dudley. The study analysed earnings data spanning all early-career workers in England, covering more than 11 million individuals. The Resolution Foundation said its findings mark a significant shift from previous studies which have indicated that wage inequality between UK regions is driven by differences in the type of people who live there. Pay divides have also commonly been attributed to the size of the local jobs market. But the study suggests that a bigger jobs market does not necessarily equal higher wages – with, for example, average workers in Cambridge earning 23% more than in the similarly-sized Leicester. Instead, a major driver of place-based penalties come from where individual firms choose to locate, meaning that if higher-paying firms relocated to a new area then it could boost pay for the local population, it found. London continues to pay higher rates irrespective of what sector they work in, according to the analysis. The average yearly wage for a full-time worker in the capital is £59,120 a year – nearly double the £31,692 earned in Liskeard, official data shows. The Resolution Foundation said policymakers can address the issues by encouraging housebuilding, including affordable homes, in better-paying areas, and supporting higher-paying firms to expand to regions across England. Greg Thwaite, research director at the Resolution Foundation, said: 'England is beset by stark and persistent geographic wage inequalities, with Londoners' typical earnings twice as much as those living in places like Liskeard or Cromer. 'It's often assumed that people are driving these divides but, in fact, place-based pay penalties are rife across England. 'A typical early career worker could lose out on £1,300 a year just because of where their job is located. 'Policymakers at local, regional and national levels can address these divides by creating the conditions for high-paying firms to locate to their areas, while avoiding an arms race between regions in subsidies for firms. 'Moving to higher-paying areas can hugely boost young people's career earnings, but housing is a major barrier to making these moves. Policymakers should do more to bring these housing barriers down.'
