Donna Logan went into last year's NZ Derby with Habibi extremely confident and she was right.

3yo filly Spellbinder takes a step up in class when contesting the Gr.1 TV3 New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie on Saturday. In 7 starts she has never finished out of the first 3 placings and her chance of claiming Derby glory may depend on the weather. Spellbinder loves wet tracks, so connections will be doing a pre-Derby rain dance.

The Peter & Jacob McKay prepared Puccini enters Saturday's Gr.1 TV3 New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie as the horse to beat. The bold front-runner has won 3 of his last 4 starts,defeating most of Saturday's rivals and is looking to take the first prize of $450,000 back to Matamata.

Venus Serena's season could be about to get a bit tougher.

Cambridge trainer Shaune Ritchie will be out to land his second New Zealand Derby on March 1 at Ellerslie. Ritchie has one of the leading chances for the TV3 sponsored event in the form of Glorious Lad, and knows what it takes to win the feature 3yo event, having trained 2010 winner Military Move.

Owning shares in a racehorse can cost just $10 a week, provide some heart-stopping moments and involve year-round social events.

The stakes have risen for this year's Auckland Cup festival, and racegoers have been told to expect higher-calibre racing, entertainment and hospitality.

Fears the new Inter Dominion date will savage the Auckland Trotting Cup look set to be wide of the mark for the second year running.

Get ready for New Zealand's most glamorous sporting event. Danielle Wright discovers ways to showcase the city to visitors for a week of high-fashion and fine food, bar-hopping and betting.