From December 3 everyone aged 12 years and over will have to fully vaccinated to be allowed on-course at any racing event anywhere in the country unless MOH exempt.
The decision was made by Racing New Zealand and was unanimously agreed to by all the racing codes, including Harness Racing New Zealand.
According to an official statement : “Racing New Zealand and the racing codes have reached this position to ensure that as many people as possible can safely enjoy racing over the next few months”.
Under the new traffic light system, that comes into effect on December 3, the rules are simple.
Children under 12, who legally cannot be vaccinated, can go on-course but for everyone else only those who have been fully vaccinated will be allowed.
This ruling pertains to all racing events – race days, trial days, and workouts. For non-racing events at the course please contact the authority or club running each venue.
So it doesn’t matter whether you are a TAB staff member or a licence-holder, a sponsor or a member of the public (aged 12 or over) you must be fully vaccinated (two doses).
At all racing events people will need have their vaccine passes available for inspection prior to entering the course. Mask wearing is recommended, and encouraged, but not compulsory.
If a licence-holder arriving at the course with horses is not fully-vaccinated then the horse may be scratched from its race unless it can be handed to someone else to bring the horse onto the course and look after it at the race meeting.
On Monday the Government will announce which traffic light applies to each region. Auckland will be red initially so that means for race meetings there are crowds of up to 100 people who will be allowed on course in addition to essential staff.
Under orange and green there are no restrictions on the number of people allowed on-course as long as they are fully vaccinated.
For Licence Holders and Clubs a new Order and Direction will be published in due course.
To find out more about the Covid-19 Protection Framework click here
To find out more about vaccine passes click here
Racing New Zealand’s Statement : RNZ-Vaccination-Position-241121.pdf
