Horse racing: Ellerslie back for Millions

Ellerslie is on target to reopen for next summer’s Karaka Million meeting but its new StrathAyr track is set for a mini-season which could end as early as March. Photo / www.photosport.nz

Ellerslie is on target to reopen for next summer’s Karaka Million meeting but its new StrathAyr track is set for a mini-season which could end as early as March.

New Zealand’s most iconic racetrack has been undergoing refurbishment.

Ellerslie hasn’t raced since early last year, with major meetings such as the Karaka Million and Auckland Cup moved to Pukekohe, with Te Rapa picking up the New Year’s Day and NZ Derby fixtures.

But Ellerslie is still the beating heart of the New Zealand racing scene, even if at the moment the track is barely recognisable.

The track surface has been stripped back, mountains of large rocks removed from the lower layers and work has now started on laying the crushed stone base. It will then be covered in a layer of sand, with the dirt and StrathAyr material going on top of that and then the top level of grass being sewn.

After initial delays not helped by the wet Auckland summer, the project is back on schedule and Auckland Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Paul Wilcox says a reopening next January is the aim.

“We are aiming for a soft opening at the meeting two weeks before the Karaka Million, then making that our first big night and official opening,” says Wilcox.

“We could then look at using it for one or two more meetings, then Derby Day and Cup Day and then giving it a good break to bed in again, and

the following season, put it into full service.”

The new surface will still include Ellerslie’s unique undulations, most notably the rise out of the home straight which is barely noticeable on television.

The track will also have a new, safer outside rail and much of the public carparking will be moved to inside the track. The golf centre with a driving range and pitch and putt course remain in the infield.

Among the huge numbers around the redevelopment are 11km of new drains being put in, while the catchment pond for that water is 100m long, 50m wide and 11m deep.

Once the grass is sewn, a wet winter won’t hold back the development, and if all remains on track, Ellerslie have a plan about how to test the race worthiness of the surface.

“We will have horses coming in and gallop on it with senior jockeys, then step up to jumpouts and trials but won’t be rushing — obviously safety is paramount,” says Wilcox.

“But we would like to have it up and running for the major summer meetings starting in January, and then the following season, it will be our main home alongside Pukekohe, which has done a huge service for the industry over the last year and will continue to do so.”

Ellerslie’s reopening is eagerly anticipated in the northern industry, not just because of the improved surface and glamour of the Auckland track, but it will come with across-the-board stake increases.

Wilcox says the full extent of those won’t be immediate, more progressive, but with a huge investment portfolio being built up, the plan is to to Auckland Thoroughbred Racing putting an extra $15 million per season into stakes in three to five years.

That could see the average Saturday meeting stake at around $100,000, while Group 1 races could rise to be between $500,000 and $600,000, putting Auckland closer to Sydney and Melbourne numbers.