Bay Harbour: December 13, 2023

Wednesday December 13 2023 Bay Harbour News
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
NEWS 21
Former banker now cuts a track
on Motukarara racecourse
Victoria Bryant is the
track manager at
Motukarara racecourse.
Dave Di Somma
catches up with her
IN A SHORT space of time
Victoria Bryant has come a long
way.
In her words the former banker
“fell into” her job as the track
manager at the Mot racecourse
and now can’t imagine working
anywhere else.
“This is my fourth season now,
it is a real job and I really love it,”
she said.
“I couldn’t even put the PTOs
on a tractor when I started.”
Now, the routine of hitching
up the blades and manicuring
the more than 1800m of track is
about as second nature as it gets.
“There’s a bit of real estate
alright. What I would call a race
day mow can take anywhere
between five and five and a half
hours.”
She had no formal qualifications
or training before taking
up the job, though she’s always
been round horses. A competitive
rider for many years she still
has four horses at her property in
Ladbrooks.
“I lost my job (in the bank) due
to Covid and the track manager
here had resigned and my dad
(Geoff) was on the committee.
I was doing some mowing and
helping out when someone said I
should go for the job.”
Along the way she’s learnt a
lot and had support and help
from people like Harness Racing
New Zealand’s track and venue
inspector John Denton; Kevin
McClintock, who’s a key part of
the team at Addington Raceway;
her part-time helper at Motukarara,
Ben Skelton; and the late
trainer-driver, Murray Edmonds.
“I think about Murray every
day I’m out there – he was great
and we used to have a few laughs
too!”
It’s believed Bryant is the only
woman to be the dedicated track
manager at a harness racing
venue in New Zealand, not that
she puts too much store into that.
“Anybody can do anything as
long as you are prepared to put
the work in.
“I’m not trying to be a hero,
I’m doing a job and I didn’t see
myself here, but I am here and
I’m loving it.
“But I couldn’t do what I do at
Mot without the amazing help
and support looking after my son
Roux from my mum and dad
(Wendy and Geoff).”
Unlike some of her thoroughbred
racing counterparts, Bryant
doesn’t use penetrometers or
other fancy equipment, relying
more on “feel”.
“Commonsense is a big part of
it plus asking a lot of questions. I
BALANCE: Despite not having any formal training
in the field, Bryant’s personal experience with
horses helped her land the job. Now, knowing
where and how much to water the grass is second
nature to her.
now know every square metre of
that track and can tell how much
water it needs, and where,” she
said.
It’s all about striking a balance.
Said Bryant: “Ideally you want
a track that is good for the horses
with a bit of give in it but not
enough so the track gets too cut
up. The soil is very sandy and
generally drains well as long as it
doesn’t get too saturated.”
While Bryant has been widely
praised for the racing surface
and the way Motukarara looks
on race day, it has given her
challenges.
In November last year the race
meeting was cancelled because
of surface water in the middle
of the track just by the winning
post.
“I felt I let the club down but
really it was out of anyone’s control,
there’d been something like
28mm of rain overnight.”
In contrast, at last year’s
December meeting it was “35
degrees and stinking hot.”
“But it’s easier to irrigate a dry
track. Wet is trickier for sure.”
In recent weeks Bryant has had
some tight turnarounds with
the Banks Peninsula Trotting
Club meeting on November 26
followed by the Akaroa Trotting
Club meeting on December 2.
“So that was two meetings in
six days . . . we did the assessment
after the first meeting, then
there was mowing, repairing
divots and other manual repairs,
plus the irrigation . . . it was all
go.”
Right now is peak hour for
Bryant, with the December 29
meeting by far the biggest of the
year. It can attract up to 8000
people on course.
“During the busiest times of
the season I can work 14-16 days
straight and then during the
winter sometimes all it takes is
10 hours per week.
“But even when I’m not
working I’m often thinking
about it!”
– Harness Racing Desk
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