Lucy glams up for the Cup

Lucy Lawless tries on a dress with some help from fashion designer, Liz Mitchell. Picture / Dean Purcell

The glamour of Auckland Cup Week gets a Hollywood injection tonight with the arrival of Lucy Lawless for the Auckland Cup Charity Ball.

The former Xena star flew into Auckland yesterday from Los Angeles for the ball that will raise money for the Starship Foundation. Lawless chose to attend the fundraiser for the charity close to her heart instead of taking up invitations to Oscar parties.

The Starship board trustee spent the afternoon trying on a selection of Liz Mitchell evening wear for tonight's ball, which will help raise funds for cardiac monitors for Starship. Lawless said while she would otherwise have been going to a few post-Oscar awards parties she did not mind being out of the "town that goes crazy ... to be honest, it's very nice to be here".

Despite being a size 10, some tight-fitting dresses had Lawless gasping for breath. Finally it was a high-waisted satin skirt and silk satin wrap top that won the day. She also chose a peacock blue satin-crepe mid-length dress for Cup Day on Wednesday.

The $250 per head ball is part of efforts to glam up the inaugural Auckland Cup Week, which the local racing industry hopes will in time match Christchurch's Cup Week, with nine race meets and $2.1 million of prize money.

Charity Ball tickets are available online (see link below).