Glamour at the track

Kylie Bax was one of the stars at Ellerslie for the final day of the NZ Herald Christmas Carnival. Photo / Getty Images

New Year's Day drew a stellar crowd of magnates, models and sports stars to Ellerslie Racecourse for the final day of the New Zealand Herald Christmas Carnival.

International model Kylie Bax, philanthropist Owen Glenn, businessman Eric Watson and Italian tennis star Flavia Pennetta joined 14,000 others at the meeting, worth $725,000 in stakes.

Pennetta, the top seed for the ASB Classic which starts on Monday, was able to get up close to the favourites before the feature event, the $200,000 Blandford Lodge Railway Stakes.

Yesterday was her first visit to a race meeting, and the event made her wish she had packed a few pretty frocks for the occasion. "Everyone is so elegant, I love it."

Kiwi tennis No 1 Sacha Jones, who yesterday withdrew from the classic with an abdominal strain, was at Ellerslie to cheer on her uncle Dave Ellis's horses.

She said he was always good for a tip.

"We came on Boxing Day and I made a couple of hundred."

However, there were few big bets for Mr Glenn, the billionaire who part-owns Blandford Lodge horse stud with the Bax family.

Instead, he was content to watch granddaughter Jessica Zurcher present the winners in the Birdcage - and lighten business partner Graham Bax's pockets of $10 after his pick, A Gold Trail, came first.

There was a family feel to yesterday's event, with many packing barbecues and tents to watch the races from the infield.