John Dumesny wants to continue to build on the solid base established by predecessor Sam Nati when he takes over as chief executive of Harness Racing NSW next month.
Dumesny was named the new head of the code after 10 years as chief executive at the NSW Harness Racing Club and 26 years in total at the club.
In his decade as the boss at the NSWHRC, he oversaw the sale of the code's inner-city home, Harold Park, and the move to the state-of-the-art, 1400-metre Menangle circuit in Sydney's far west. It was a deal that secured the code's future.
Dumesny will take over in a building phase for harness racing; new tracks are in the works for Bathurst, Tamworth and Wagga, while upgrades of Newcastle and Penrith have also been foreshadowed.
He paid tribute to Nati for his work in steering the sport through the dark times of the green-light affair involving corrupt stewards.
"Sam has done a wonderful job in handling one of the most disappointing times in the history of the sport," Dumesny said. "The green-light scandal would have been a lot more dire for the sport had Sam not been in control.
"He leaves the sport ready to move forward into its next phase. We will have a regional centre with great tracks, and I look forward to continuing Sam's work."
With Dumesny stepping down from the NSWHRC, the club has promoted Bruce Christison, who was business operations manager at Menangle.
Dumesny will oversee a handover period with Christison, while getting the same lead-in at HRNSW to be ready for his start there on September 1.
"I will spending a couple of days a week in both offices to make the transition as smooth as possible,"he said.
