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Weatherley to ride in Brisbane; Balcombe secures top Hawke’s Bay Racing role

Weatherley to ride in Brisbane

Group One-winning Kiwi apprentice Sam Weatherley will make a fleeting visit to Australia this month to ride in an apprentice series race.

Weatherley, 20, has accepted an invitation to ride in the National Apprentice Series race at Doomben on March 18 and is relishing the opportunity to again ride in Australia.

Weatherley, who won the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) on Enzo's Lad at Trentham in 2018, rode out of Sydney last season, winning 27 races and finished second on the metropolitan apprentices table there.

"This will be my first time riding in Brisbane and I'm really looking forward to the opportunity," said Weatherley, a two-time champion apprentice in New Zealand.

"I really enjoyed riding in Sydney and it will be good to get back to Australia to ride again, even just for the one meeting. It's a chance for me to meet a lot of the Australian apprentices, catch up with some old rivals and make some new contacts in Brisbane.

"It's a privilege for me to go over there, representing New Zealand in Australia."

Weatherley is still able to claim 1.5kg in Brisbane and will ride down to 54kg at the meeting.

Fellow Matamata jockey Jasmine Fawcett will ride in the Sandown leg of the National Apprentice Series on March 25.

Balcombe secures top Hawke's Bay Racing role

Experienced racing administrator Darin Balcombe has been announced as the new chief executive officer of Hawke's Bay Racing.

Balcombe will replace Andrew (Butch) Castles, who leaves Hawke's Bay to take up the position of chief executive for the Waikato Racing Club.

Balcombe will commence his position with Hawke's Bay Racing on April 14 after spending the past two and a half years as a stipendiary steward.

"I'm very excited about it and see it is a tremendous opportunity," Balcombe said.

"Hopefully I can build on the great things Butch Castles has done with the club. The spring carnival there is one of the most iconic in the country and things are looking very positive for the future.

"I see Hawke's Bay Racing as being a great club, with a great culture, and I'm looking forward to getting up there and enjoying the beautiful Hawke's Bay weather."

Hawke's Bay Racing chairman Eliot Cooper said he was delighted that the club was able to appoint a person with such a thorough background and expertise in the racing industry to take over the position of CEO.

"We were delighted with the strength of applicants for the position, which is an indication that Hawke' Bay Racing is well respected and regarded as one of the premier racing club's in the country," Cooper said.

"Darin is a great choice as we know we have a good guy that has a thorough grounding in all aspects of the racing industry and who can take the club forward."