The Westland Racing Club , Hokitika, was founded in the year 1865. Meetings are held in the first week in January, and at Easter, for two days on each occasion. They are held under the auspices of the Canterbury Jockey Club, and are patronised by a fair class of horses from Wellington, Christchurch, and Wanganui. The total prize money for the New Year meeting is about £500, and for the Easter meeting, £450. The attendance numbers about 2,500, and excursion trains run in connection with the races. The racecourse is a portion of the Public Reserve, and contains about thirty-six acres, leased from the Borough Council, and the whole course it visible from the lawn. The grandstand has seat room for 600 spectators, and is fitted up in the most modern style, with a refreshment room, a circular bar, a ladies' lavatory and cloakroom, a saddling paddock, and a stewards' room. Within the enclosure there are fourteen scraping sheds and a large paddock. The outside grounds are well laid out, £2,300 having been spent on improvements up to the year 1905. The Westland Agricultural and Pastoral Association holds its shows annually on the grounds, which are further improved from that source. Officers for the year 1905; Messrs A. Stevenson, chairman and judge; J. H. Pollock, handicapper; D. J. Evans, secretary and treasurer; F. A. G. Archer, starter; H. Karnbach, junior, clerk of course; H. Butland, time keeper; E. H. Robinson, clerk of scales; and Dr. Teichelmann, honorary surgeon. There are about eleven stewards.