AFTER a period of more than 20 years away from the role, Hugh Macdonald has returned to the Hamilton Racing Club and was appointed as the new president, following the retirement of Helen Sobey.

Macdonald was asked to fill a casual role at the club back in September and from there he was elected as the right person to lead the club forward.

“I’m really excited about it, we’ve got a lot to look forward to - Helen Sobey, the past chair has started some really good work and we want to continue with that and build a lot more community engagement,” he said.

The racecourse isn’t unfamiliar for Macdonald, who grew up heavily involved in the Hamilton Racing Club through his father – this planted a seed for the future.

“My father was chairman here and a life member, I’m happy to be continuing the role … I used to come out with my father as a kid.”

“When the running rail was wooden, we’d paint the whole running rail and I was the kid, so I’d do the underneath bit and I hated painting,” he laughed.

He joined the committee in 1990 and was a valued member for a decade up until 2000 when he no longer had enough time to handle the position.

Two of those years were spent as president of the club and helped him gain crucial knowledge and experience which he felt would hold him in good stead.

“I stopped in 2000 while our kids were growing up and I was busy with them, but now I’ve sort of turned a full circle, the kids have grown up and I’ve got time on my hands,” he said.

“I’ve always been interested in the race club and had an interest in a horse all the way along.”

Macdonald said he felt having served in the role previously and knowing how much time and work it required would hold him in good stead.

He said some of his key areas of focus included getting more people involved with hiring a new club manager the first point of call.

“I feel comfortable (in the role), obviously things have changed a fair bit in the way racing is conducted but the fundamentals are still the same,” he said.

“We’ve got some priorities (which include) getting a professional trainer full time at the facility and just to get a little bit more happening out on the track on race days.

“We’ve got some really good facilities that we want to develop for us outside race days and make it a really nice facility for people to use for events and any number of things.”

The Hamilton track is one of the greatest features of the club and Macdonald said it was about bringing all the other things together.

“Darren Kolpin who is our track manager is a super manager … it is an excellent racetrack and we’ve got some great facilities, just have to tie it all together and put Hamilton on the map a bit more,” he said.

“The importance of having a good track and track manager is that trainers then like to come here and bring their horses – if you can draw good horses, it’s up to us to make everything else follow.”