‘Fun and games’ for racing club president

By Chris Marshall

King’s Service Medal recipient Terry Campbell is keen to acknowledge the part fellow Taupō Racing Club committee members play in the club’s success and his award.

Club president since 2013, Terry was awarded a KSM in the New Year Honours List 2025 for services to horse racing and governance.

“The committee and Marion Thompson, our secretary, do a lot of work,” he said.

Terry Campbell reflects on more than a decade of service for the Taupō Racing Club.

“It’s an award for Taupō but also for the racing industry. We’ve strengthened our club involvement and the growth of racing here. We have trial days where 200-plus horses gallop over 30 heats so they’re all getting ready for other meetings around the country. It’s all part of providing something for the industry.”

The club’s goal was to be the best country track in the country, he said.

And under Terry’s guidance the club is certainly bucking the trend of small clubs having to close or amalgamate.

“Our Harcourts Cup at Christmas, $85,000, would be the biggest country cup in the country. We have put a lot of money into it through sponsorship to build that up. We made a good profit last year which is fantastic, more than we’ve ever made, but we ended up with eight race days and three trial days.”

Some of this success is due to the good fortune of Taupō’s location – with Taupō taking on extra race days while other clubs such as Te Aroha or Avondale were out of action – and its volcanic soils.

“The pumice track’s the secret but you’ve got to keep plenty of water on it in the summer.”

But diversifying and prudent management have also helped keep the club financially sustainable.

Joint ventures, such as with the New Zealand Motor Caravan Association which make club facilities available to visitors, and another providing parking for people attending meetings at the adjacent Taupō Motorsport Park have provided extra funding streams. The club also separately leases an area for lucerne production.

“The whole aim has been to improve outside funding other than just race day funding. We rent the house, we rent stables down the far end, all the sign income, then cropping income. This was the first time (2024) that we had an opportunity to offer Campervan Parking for Supercars… but there’s room to grow it immensely and they take a park for four days.”
The improvements over the past few years – new plastic running rails, new stable complexes, watering systems and management programme for the track, have all contributed to the club’s success.

“I’ve been enjoying it because it’s making progress, and everyone is happy to help because they know we’re making progress, and they can see the difference.”

While he had been involved in the 1980s and early 1990s with the Manawatu Racing Club, signing on to a position of responsibility with the Taupō club was not necessarily on the radar when he moved here in 2012 after a period overseas.

“Marie Leicester, who was from Manawatu, was president when I came here and she said: ‘come along and get on the committee’. I thought I’d give a hand, that I’d get some low-level job and then about three months later the vice-president left for a job in Sydney, so they made me vice-president, then Marie said: ‘well I’m retiring at the end of the year’. That was 2013, so I took over.”

Terry can laugh that he must have been blinkered to the short odds he would end up in the job.

Though a similar situation arose with the King’s Service Medal.

“I had no idea what was going on. Then I was told ‘they have put your name forward, now what have you done wrong?’ So, it was quite funny. I didn’t really know for sure until about two weeks beforehand.”

He says the club is a huge community run organisation.

“We have working bees and get 20-30 folk turn up to come and help. We provide them with a great morning tea, cream scones, savouries, toasted sandwiches and they love it. They work for an hour or two, have a 45-minute smoko and then chat afterwards.”

But there’s no resting in the hay for the club that aims to be the best country track in the country. Upcoming improvements include automating the watering system, track widening to give a gentler sweep to the final bend, a new workshop area and tractor shed.

The addition of a fifth annual race meeting - this year’s February 26 twilight Cocky’s Day - was aimed at the farming community – eight races, each with a $25,000 stake sponsored by rural businesses. 

“There are a lot more things to do yet … more fun and games.”