The members of the Canterbury Jockey Club elected two new members to the Board of the Club at the Annual General Meeting held Wednesday 2 October 2024. Existing Board members Kevin Brookfield and Val Parrot retired by rotation, as required by the rules of the Club, and were re-elected. Two vacancies resulting from the retirement of Dan Francis in April after serving 10 years and past Chairman, 2017 to 2022, Gordon Fulton at the AGM, were filled by Nigel Johnston and Peter Williams.
Recently retired Group 1 winning trainer Peter Williams relocated back to Canterbury after training out of Byerley Park for the past 13 years. Prior to that his stellar training career operated out of his own Ashburton property and from 1996 to 2011 from a stable complex at Riccarton Park.
Peter, along with his wife Dawn, were presented with the NZTR Award for Outstanding Contribution to Racing at the national racing awards on Sunday 8 September.
Peter has previous experience in racing administration having been president of the Canterbury branch of the NZ Trainers Association for 10 years and a committee member of the Ashburton Racing Club for six years.
Peter said, “If I am appointed to this position my years of knowledge and experience with the horse and racing generally will be of help to the Club”.
With a background in farming and agronomy Nigel Johnston has established a successful agronomy research business from the ground up starting in 2011. Prior to that Nigel worked for multi-national agricultural seed and crop protection companies in New Zealand and Australia. Nigel and his wife, Cecille, also own and run a 75-acre cattle grazing farm near Dunsandel.
Hailing from the Central Districts where Nigel’s enthusiasm for racing was nurtured following family horses. He has been breeding and racing horses since the late 1990’s and currently has horses in work with Riccarton Park and Canterbury trainers as well as Australia. He is also an active breeder, with two mares due to be served by a Canterbury stallion this season.
Nigel says “Given the exciting future and opportunity provided by the injection of funds and initiatives by Entain I see that there is no better chance for the CJC to capitalise on this and provide all industry participants with greater returns and better raceday experiences. With Christchurch being the second largest city, we have a prime target market for growing the sport of racing and making Riccarton Park a go-to destination for people’s entertainment dollar.”