Ellerslie prepares for $9 million Champions Day, New Zealand’s biggest raceday

Perfumist is one of the Australian-trained gallopers coming to Ellerslie for the NZB Kiwi on Champions Day. Photo / Supplied

Now New Zealand’s biggest ever raceday is almost reality the man in charge of it has one wish left.

“It’d be nice if everybody in the racing industry could cross their fingers or say their prayers for a fine day,” laughs Ellerslie chief executive Paul Wilcox.

“If we get that then we are going to be part of something special.”

Wilcox and his team will bring Barfoot & Thompson Champions Day to life at Ellerslie on Saturday week, the $9 million raceday almost here after being launched on January 22 last year.

The news of Public Attention taking the last slot in next week’s signature race, the $3.5m NZB Kiwi, was the icing on the Champions Day cake for not just Wilcox but many local racing fans.

He is trained by Mick Price and Michael Kent jnr, adding to an impressive line-up of Australian stables that will have horses at the inaugural Champions Day.

Among those making the trip across the Tasman is Perfumist, who is owned by syndication giants OTI Racing and trained by Bjorn Baker

“If somebody had told us two years ago we would have horses from many of the biggest stables in Australia all racing here on the same day we would have thought they were crazy,” Wilcox said.

“You hope to get some of those big names but to have reps from Chris Waller, Ciaron Maher, Bjorn Baker, the Hayes boys, Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young and now Mick Price and Michael Kent, that is a dream situation for us.

“You add to that some of the jockeys we have coming from Australia and the fact we have horses in the NZB Kiwi with links to Ireland, Wales, Malaysia, to mention just a few places, it is quite remarkable really.”

The significant Australian involvement can only improve awareness of Champions Day across the Tasman and will have a flow-on effect for turnover. The meeting will also have World Pool tote betting through Hong Kong and looks certain to break records for overseas investment on a New Zealand race meeting.

Wilcox and his team are now balancing how to accommodate all the visitors and locals who want to attend the new event.

“Hospitality sales have been very strong right from when we opened them and if the weather is good we are planning for somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000 people being here,” he said.

“A lot of the hospitality sold out really quickly but there are some small pockets of that left.

“We had a couple ring up today who couldn’t make it and cancelled their tickets. Those seats lasted about five minutes and then they were gone.

“So people should just go to the website and try their luck for those areas in case we have a few more of those but we still have general admission left.”

The meeting will also feature one of Ellerslie’s famous after-parties in what will double as the unofficial closing celebration for New Zealand’s biggest summer of racing.

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.