Grace making her mark on the Tauherenikau turf

There couldn’t have been a more fitting winner of the Newcomer Award at the Industry Excellence Award than someone in charge of one of the most important parts of a race meeting.

Matia Grace (29) is the Wairarapa Racing Club track manager at the popular Tauherenikau Racecourse and has made a major impact in the role in just two years. She has overseen the installation of a new irrigation system and implemented a renovation programme that has seen major improvements to the racing surface at Tauherenikau.

Alongside this, she gained her New Zealand Certificate in Horticulture Level 3 for Sports Turf and gave birth to her son Katu (1) during all of this.

Add to her being awarded the New Zealand Racecourse Managers’ Rising Star Scholarship this year, and It’s an impressive list for someone who took a “blind leap of faith” to apply for the track manager role when it was advertised.

"I actually had no experience in the racing industry whatsoever, and I just spied the job application online and I just sort of jumped into it headfirst and went for the interview,” Grace said.

“I thought that sounds like something that could interest me.”

Prior to taking up the role in 2022, Grace (Ngati Raukawa) was working in construction, re-piling and re-levelling houses in Wellington, and prior to that, she was in the horticultural sector.

And while she was raised on a sheep and beef farm near Eketahuna, Grace certainly wasn’t familiar with the intricacies of turf management. Racecourse management is one of the most challenging roles in the industry. Everyone has an opinion on a track, but importantly, the jockeys who have ridden at Tauherenikau have praised the quality of the track that Grace essentially takes care of by herself.

“My goal is just that I can keep a consistent and safe surface for them to race on,” Grace said.

Grace had no expectations when she attended Sunday’s awards with her partner Bastiaan van Benthem after she was nominated by Te Rapa track manager Bart Cowan, so it was ‘surreal’ when her name was ready out as the winner of the Newcomer Award.

“To get that sort of recognition so early on in my career was really awesome,” Grace said.

"I am really grateful to Bart for nominating me for such an awesome award, and to Matthew Sherry (General Manager, Wairarapa Racing Club), and the team at Tauherenikau for supporting me and setting me up for success from day one on the job.

I’m so thankful that I can be a part of shedding a bit of a positive light on track management as a career.”

Grace also credits her mentor, Hastings racecourse manager Richard Fenwick.

“He’s really helped me out with setting up the process of the yearly upkeep and renovation.”

With the award in her hands, the frantic past couple of years has all been worth it.

“I feel like a bit of a circus performer trying to juggle first-time motherhood and this new career, but yeah, it's been really cool and really rewarding.”