Telegraph winner Mercurial is one of the horses who will wear Cure Kids colours at Ellerslie today. Photo/ Kenton Wright
** Ellerslie, Christmas Raceday for Cure Kids, first race 12.29pm
** Whanganui, Whanganui Cup day, first race 12.15pm
Six horses at Ellerslie today will be racing for more than just stake money for their connection or to provide punters with a winner.
The Christmas Raceday for Cure Kids gives the racing industry the chance to support one of New Zealand’s best known charities.
Founded in 1971 by Rotary, Cure Kids is dedicated to enabling high-impact, New Zealand-based medical research into serious health conditions that affect children.
Over the past five decades it has invested tens of millions of dollars into research across a wide range of conditions, from childhood cancers and inherited heart conditions through to epilepsy, infectious diseases and child and adolescent mental health, improving outcomes for many young New Zealanders and their families.
As part of the Christmas Raceday for Cure Kids today, one starter in six different races will carry special co-branded Cure Kids and LoveRacing colours.
For every race won in those colours, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) will donate $1000 to Cure Kids.
NZTR chief executive Matt Ballesty said the initiative is a simple but powerful way for the industry to get behind Cure Kids.
“Cure Kids does incredible work to improve the lives of children living with serious health conditions, and our industry is proud to stand alongside them,” said Ballesty.
“We’ve seen the enthusiasm for Cure Kids raceday initiatives at Riccarton Park and Te Rapa, and it’s great to see Ellerslie once again at the heart of that support. Every time the Cure Kids colours cross the winning post, it’s a win we can all celebrate.”
The racing community’s support of Cure Kids was first forged at Ellerslie, where the club established an on-course partnership.
That original raceday for Cure Kids created a template that has since been picked up by other clubs around the country, with similar initiatives now a regular feature at both Riccarton and Te Rapa.
Auckland Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Paul Wilcox said that enduring connection with Cure Kids is something the club treasures.
“The Cure Kids raceday has become a really special part of our calendar at Ellerslie,” said Wilcox.
“It brings our racing community together behind a cause that is all about giving Kiwi kids a better shot at a healthy future, and that’s something our club, participants and customers are incredibly proud to support,” he said.
The horses racing for the charity today are: Santa Catarina (Race 2), Mercurial (R4), Poetic Justice (R5), Faultless (R6), Habana (R8) and Prezzy Card (R9).
The other star of the show today will be one of the kings of Ellerslie, El Vencedor, who will start odds-on in the Bayleys Challenge Stakes.
Trainer Stephen Marsh has opted for today’s $120,000 set weights and penalties 1600m rather than trekking to Trentham next Saturday for what is shaping up as a hot TAB Mufhasa Mile.
While he has to carry the 59kg clear topweight today, it is hard to make a case to bet against El Vencedor, especially with little winning form among his rivals, whereas he looked to be right back to his best when bolting-in at Ellerslie last start.
Several of today’s races will impact feature race markets for other Ellerslie meetings during the busy summer ahead, with all seven of the runners in the juvenile race that opens the card eligible for the January 24 Karaka Millions.
There are two Dunstan Stayers Championship qualifiers as well as two Stella Artois Championship qualifiers, while the Eagle Memorial is a listed three-year-old race bound to contain horses who go on to race in either the Karaka Millions Three-Year-Old or NZB Kiwi in March.
There is also stakes racing at Whanganui today, as well as the $100,000 Jennian Homes Wellington Stakes at Ōtaki tomorrow.
** Further afield, the race that produced one of New Zealand racing’s proudest moments will be run in Tokyo on Sunday night.
It has been 36 years since Matamata mare Horlicks won the Japan Cup for trainers Dave and Paul O’Sullivan with Lance riding, one of the greatest moments in the New Zealand racing history.
Tomorrow’s field has just one international runner taking on the 17 local Japanese horses – but he is a good one, European Horse of the Year Calandagan, who will start from barrier 8.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.