The Southland Racing Club is an organisation that itself is traditionally in search of sponsorship opportunities rather than handing out money.
There was initially some trepidation from fellow club members when the idea of backing the Stags financially was first raised, Bellew said.
However, he said there was no catch to the deal, it was simply a case of Southlanders helping out fellow Southlanders.
The Southland Racing Club is in a relatively strong position on the back of various recent commercial investments, he said.
It included leasing land to the Blue Duck Early Learning Centre which opened at Ascot Park this year.