Vale Trevor Robertson

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk 

Long-serving racing administrator Trevor Robertson will be farewelled in Ashburton this Friday.

The secretary-manager of the Ashburton Trotting Club for around 50 years, he died over the weekend, with drivers wearing black armbands in his honour at his home track last Sunday.

He retired in 2012, after starting out in the industry in 1962 and taking on the secretary's job a decade later. As well as being the secretary-manager of the Ashburton Trotting Club he was also responsible for other clubs including Methven, Geraldine and Hororata.

Daughter Beth Begg remembers an "easy-going father" who was dedicated to his job.

"Every year we had to have Christmas day at Dad's and the phone would go all day with scratchings and him sorting out the fields," she laughs.

"It was pretty hard case."

Methven Trotting Club Life Member and long-time friend Martin Nordqvist says Robertson was well-respected.

"He had a lot of knowledge and insight."

"At the Methven club there were 17 different presidents during his time there."

And he operated at a time very different to how things are done now.

"In the early days each owner handed over an open cheque at the start of the day to pay their starting fees and then you'd be charged depending on whether the horse won any stake money or not," says Nordqvist.

"So the job carried a fair degree of responsibility."

Robertson was also a regular at annual conferences and oversaw major changes to the track and grandstand at Ashburton Raceway.  

Born in Dunedin, Robertson's family moved to Ashburton in 1956 when he was 13. He lived there for the rest of his life. He married four times and had three children, Andrew, Beth and Ben. 

He was very much of the "rugby, racing and beer" generation.

An avid follower of sport he was a Life Member and former President of the Old Boys rugby club in Ashburton. He had played senior rugby for the club alongside the likes of All Blacks Jock Ross and Doug Bruce.

"He was book mad," says Beth, "he was well read and had a big library on all sorts of topics."

"He was also very partial to a beer!"

"He was good company and really did love a cold beer, " Nordqvist agrees.

No doubt a few more will be consumed when his life is celebrated at the Ashburton MSA this Friday at 1pm.

Trevor Robertson was 83.