BLAST FROM THE PAST
ADDINGTON TRACK HEROES
 ADDINGTON GROUNDS CREW
Ask Joh Denton how long he has been track manager at Addington Raceway and he will tell you he began the year Bee Bee Cee won the New Zealand Cup. That was 1994. In between there have been many special Addington memories for Denton including Kym's Girl, who was trained by Colin and Julie De Filippi, John's sister, and driven by Colin, winning the New Zealand Cup in 2001.
Christian Cullen's 1998 NZ Cup win was also special because his driver, Danny Campbell, had his first job in a stable working for Denton, a former licenced trainer and driver who is the son of highly respected elder statesman of harness racing in Canterbury, Bill Denton. There have also been exciting times watching other stars such as Courage Under Fire, Lyell Creek, Elsu and Monkey King fly around Addington.
Managing the grounds of such a large and complex facility is a big job. However, Denton is also Track and Venue Inspector for every harness racing track in New Zealand which means a lot of travelling for him. He loves his job and says he is lucky to have such dedicated staff working with him at Addington including Rudd Wilson, Allan Maslin and Chris Pearce. Denton's son, Jeff, also helps out at the races assisting with track work. "We work as a team to make sure everything looks spic and span," Denton said. "This is our life."
Addington CEO Shane Gloury said Denton and his ground staff team were great to work with and he was "very pleased with the results they have achieved. They are hard working and take tremendous pride in their work and the grounds here at Addington." he said. Denton said the men in his team were also experienced horsemen which was a big advantage at the races, especially if there was an accident because it meant they were able to help the crash crew when necessary.
The sense of pride they all have in their work is on show at every Addington race meeting but never more so than during the New Zealand Cup carnival. Every year at this time Denton and his team work especially hard to make sure Addington is looking her absolute best for New Zealand's premier harness racing event.
However, this year even more effort has been required after 12 months of turmoil, caused by three devastating earthquakes and thousands of smaller quakes, and aftershocks, ripped the heart out of Christchurch, flattening much of the CBD, causing horrific damage as well elsewhere in Canterbury and leaving 182 people dead after the February 22 quake.
Addington Raceway escaped with only minor damage after the first earthquake on September 4 last year, and even became a refuge centre for some time for many people with badly damaged homes. However, far worse damage was to come during the later quakes resulting in the much awaited Addington Inter-Dominions having to be transferred to Auckland in March, a severe blow to the South Island harness racing community and the Christchurch economy.
Gloury said that after the February 22 earthquake, seven race meetings, including three Inter-Dominion fixtures, were either abandoned or transferred to other venues. This was because of damage to buildings, and the track, including hairline cracks, liquefaction, and gouging after the main water pipeline cracked three times. The in August another two meetings had to be abandoned due to heavy snow. The public grandstand has also had to be demolished, after being damaged beyond repair, and has been replaced with marquees and portable seating for Cup Day. The February 22 quake was "pretty frightening for everyone," Denton said, "but fortunately nobody was hurt at the raceway". He was on the tractor watering the track that day when the quake struck. "I looked over at the main stand and could see the windows moving."
Although Denton had a long list of things still to do before Cup Day when I visited last week, there was no signs of pressure and he was looking forward to the big day. "I believe it will be a great Cup and people will really enjoy the week out. The Cup field itself is looking exciting, particularly with Smoken Up now coming and Auckland Reactor back." The big, roomy Addington track was "one of the fairest" in New Zealand, Denton said. "You can be anywhere in the field and still have a winning chance."
Gloury said he was hoping for around 24,000 racegoers on Cup Day. "While we expect that number, visitors from the North Island and Australia may be down due to concerns over the earthquakes in Christchurch, with so many events lost from Canterbury we expect Cantabrians to get right behind Cup Day which will be the biggest event in Christchurch in 2011," he said.
While earthquakes, aftershocks and heavy snow have provided trying times for everyone in Canterbury during the last twelve months, the popularity of the Addington Raceway Events Centre is proving a silver lining in the dark eathquake clouds that have hammered the region. Now the New Zealand Cup Carnival, something everyone looks forward to in harness racing, is almost here again. A big thanks to all the hardworking team at Addington Raceway for making it happen.
Credit: Shelley Caldwell writing in HRWeekly 3 Nov 2011
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