Alderslade recognised in King’s Birthday Honours

Auckland Thoroughbred Racing chairman Doug Alderslade has been recognised in the King’s Birthday honours for his services to the racing industry and will become an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

“It has been a bit overwhelming, but I am appreciative and humbled by it all,” Alderslade said.

“I was obviously delighted to accept, more on the part of the whole industry and the team at Ellerslie rather than seeing it as being a particular acknowledgement of my efforts because it has been a huge team effort by everybody concerned.”

A member of the Auckland Racing Club board since 2003, Alderslade became chairman of the club in 2017, and he played a key part in the amalgamation of the Auckland Racing Club and Counties Racing Club into Auckland Thoroughbred Racing in 2021 and was subsequently appointed chairman of the joint venture.

In his tenure as ATR chairman, Alderslade has overseen arguably the most transformative years in the club’s history, with Ellerslie becoming a world-class racecourse with the construction of its StrathAyr track and new stabling area, as well as securing the club’s financial future with the sale of the Ellerslie Hill.

Alderslade has been associated with the Auckland club for more than 50 years, and said he is proud of what his team has achieved in his time at the helm.

“I have been a member (of the Auckland Racing Club) from 1972, and I joined the board in 2003,” Alderslade said. “That was when we had a whole issue when we sold Takanini and what we were going to do with the proceeds, and basically the whole board resigned and we had new elections. Lyn Stevens was the new chair when I joined the board in 2003.

“The first decade and a half of being on the board was business as usual. I think when the issues the industry is now facing became more obvious, as a board we really started to think about what we needed to do and could do to take the industry into a new era.

“That was when the big decisions were being made about the track, the installation of the new StrathAyr, and then the selling of the hill, which was obviously a difficult decision bearing in mind the history of the hill.

“We just felt from an economic point of view, we really needed to inject some optimism into the future of the industry and that was the way we felt we could do it – by producing a first rate racing surface and being in the fortunate position as a consequence of being able to offer really good stakes for trainers and owners, and everybody concerned in the industry.

“With Pukekohe, we thought that there was a need to combine with them and have them involved with the whole process and get Mark (Chitty) and his team onboard. They were extremely receptive and worked really well with us to achieve that end. It has been a bit of a journey over the last six or seven years to get to the point where we are at at the moment.

“When you set out on these sorts of projects you look where you want to end up. In incremental terms, first it was the stabling block, which was the first project off the block. It is a wonderful setup for the horses and trainers. The track was the next thing and building up the investment fund that we have currently got to be able to fund the stakes has been a big part of it.”

While proud of what he and his board have delivered, Alderslade said the job isn’t complete yet.

“We have still got projects at Ellerslie and Pukekohe we are looking at, so we are not finished the process,” he said. “I think it has been gratifying for all of us to see the results of what we have achieved has been well received by the industry and obviously at a time where the industry is going through quite a few changes, it is nice to have some bright spots on the scene.”

One of those bright spots has been Champions Day, which has quickly become New Zealand’s biggest day in racing, and the home of New Zealand’s first thoroughbred slot race – the $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m).

“That has been an iteration that has developed,” Alderslade said. “We started off with that Carnival being three days and we are down to one. It is like anything in the industry these days, you have just got to adapt and move on to what is going to work going forward.

“History is a wonderful thing and everyone should acknowledge it, accept it and enjoy it, but at the same time we have got to do things that are going to appeal to the wider public and ensure that the people that are contributing to the industry are able to get a good return for their efforts and input.”

While racing has been a big part of Alderslade’s life, it wasn’t until the English native immigrated to New Zealand as a teenager that he became involved in the sport.

“I emigrated from England to New Zealand when I was 15, and I had nothing to do with racing in England,” he said.

“I ended up at Feilding Agricultural High School and the guy in the class that was designated to look after me, he and his father were avid racing fans, so in the late sixties I used to trail along behind them to places like Awapuni, Wanganui, Woodville, and there was a Feilding track in those days. So once or twice a month I went off to the races.

“We both came up to university (in Auckland) to do law, and we followed on from there.”

Alderslade would go on to forge a successful career in law, becoming a litigation partner at Chapman Tripp, but racing continued to play a key part in his life, with Alderslade enjoying plenty of success as a Group One-winning owner and breeder.

“I met my wife to be, and her sister-in-law is Moira Murdoch, and we started racing a few horses,” Alderslade said. “The first horse we raced was Solvit, who won the Cox Plate (Gr.1, 2040m) and three Group Ones, so that got us involved. We raced horses with Moira for 20-odd years.

“I am good friends with Alan Galbraith at Rich Hill, so we joined up with Alan, and we started breeding a few here and in Australia, and it snowballed from there.

“The first mare that we bred from, a mare called Gemscay, was the mother of Penny Gem, who won a Group One, so I hit the jackpot with the first foal I bred.”

Alderslade has also experienced plenty of success as an owner in Australia of late, highlighted by Group One winner and now sire Exceedance.

“Latterly I have been racing a few in Australia through a link with Vinery Stud. It has been an accumulation and expansion,” Alderslade said.

“Through the Vinery connection, I am an owner and still have an investment in Exceedance, who won the Coolmore Stakes in 2019, and he is now standing at stud at Vinery.”

Alderslade has garnered plenty of success and enjoyment from racing and he has been delighted to give back to the sport he loves, something he plans to do for a few years to come, with the help of his board.

“The key to it in the last five to 10 years has been the board that we have got,” Alderslade said. We have got a very good, balanced board that has got a wide range of skills.

“I can’t do everything, nobody can, but when you can rely on a team like that and we are all working for the same purpose, it makes life a lot easier.

“We have still got a bit of work to be done at Ellerslie to get to a point where we feel we have completed our master plan.”

While Ellerslie and Pukekohe are the club’s key focus, Alderslade said they are also working towards a bright future for racing throughout New Zealand.

“We have always said from the beginning that we are part of an industry, and we can’t survive on our own,” he said.

“We are looking forward to trying to contribute to what is going on at the moment to ensure that the footprint and the foundations for the industry going forward are on good, strong footings.

“That is going to come out of Project Stamina and the advisory group’s recommendations, whatever they are.”