Ellerslie Racecourse


Ellerslie Racecourse is the main racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand, for thoroughbred racehorses. It is an undulating, grass circuit in the suburb of Ellerslie, with a circumference of just under 1,900 metres. Racing is conducted in a clockwise direction.

History

Horses have raced at Ellerslie since 1857 when Robert Graham hosted a race meeting on his property, on the site which is now Ellerslie Racecourse. The Auckland Racing club then purchased thirty-six hectares of land from Graham in 1872 on which the course is situated.
The first race meeting of the Auckland Racing Club was held at Ellerslie on 25 May 1874. At this time the racecourse was a considerable distance outside the city and it took Aucklanders up to several hours to get to the course by carriage.
A "platform" station, Ellerslie Racecourse Platform was opened in January 1874. Many went by train, although with the demand created by the event, as late as in 1910 they often had to travel in open cattle trucks because there were not enough normal coaches available for the demand of the extra services.
A publication compiled by E.G. Sutherland, held in Sir George Grey Special Collections called Auckland Cup history makes note of the importance of the aesthetic appeal of Ellerslie Racecourse.
"It seems worthy of mention that by making Ellerslie attractive the Auckland Racing Club has added to the popularity of the sport. Ellerslie’s attractive outlook has been partly responsible for bringing thousands of visiting racing patrons within its borders to witness the best class of thoroughbreds in action. It’s well laid out floral beds, ponds and large variety of choice trees and palms have drawn kudos from Royalty, Governors, Viceroys, tourists and visitors from all parts of the world."
Even Queen Elizabeth visited Ellerslie Racecourse during the royal visit in 1953/4.
Ellerslie Racecourse was the location of the first automatic totalisator, designed by George Julius and installed in 1913.
During the 20th century, Ellerslie Racecourse provided plants for Kingseat Hospital.
Champion racehorses to have raced at Ellerslie include Kindergarten, Balmerino, Bonecrusher, Uncle Remus, Japan Cup winner Horlicks, Il Tempo, Mr Tiz, Sunline and Jimmy Choux.
Ellerslie is home to two of New Zealand's major racing carnivals - the Summer Carnival and Auckland Cup Week. The Summer Carnival is run in the Christmas-New Year period with Boxing Day and New Year's Day formerly being home to the New Zealand Derby and Auckland Cup respectively, but these were moved to the new Auckland Cup Week in March 2006.

Steeplechasing

Steeplechasing at Ellerslie uses the well-known "hill." The jumping track leaves the course proper just before the 1000 metre mark at the end of the back straight and rises approximately 16 metres to the top of the hill, where there are two steeplechase fences 100 metres apart. There is another at the foot of the hill where the steeplechase track rejoins the course proper just after the 600 metre mark. The total length of this section of the track is approximately 750 metres. It is not used for flat racing. The major steeplechase at Ellerslie, the Great Northern Steeplechase, requires the horses to climb this hill 3 times in the 6400m event.

Races

The following is a list of Group races which are run at Ellerslie Racecourse.
Grp
Race Name
Age
Sex
Weight
Distance
Date
1Zabeel ClassicOpenOpenwfa2000December
1Railway StakesOpenOpenwfa1200January
RKaraka MillionRestricted 2yoOpensw1200January
1New Zealand Derby3YOOpensw2400March
1Auckland CupOpenOpenhcp3200March
1Diamond Stakes2YOOpensw1200March
1New Zealand StakesOpenOpenwfa2000March
2Easter HandicapOpenOpenhcp1600April
2Eight Carat Classic3YOFilliessw1600December
2Great Northern Guineas3YOOpensw1600January
2Royal Stakes3YOFilliessw2000January
2City of Auckland CupOpenOpenhcp2400January
2Rich Hill MileOpenOpenhcp1600January
2Championship Stakes3YOOpensw2100April
2Darley PlateOpenOpenwfa1200March
3Lindauer StakesOpenOpenwfa2000November
3Great Northern Challenge StakesOpenOpenwfa1600November
3Eclipse Stakes2YOOpensw1200January

Other races of note in the past include: