Horse racing: Golden Eagle opportunity for NZB Kiwi race winner at Ellerslie

I Wish I Win winning the Golden Eagle (2022). Photo / Supplied

New Zealand’s richest horse race is set to become a pathway to one of Australia’s most valuable.

The winner of the $3.5 million NZB Kiwi at Ellerslie this Saturday could be extended a golden ticket to start in the A$10m Golden Eagle run at Rosehill in Sydney in November.

Racing New South Wales all-powerful chief executive Peter V’Landys has floated the idea in a recent interview which New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing looks set to grab with both hands.

The Golden Eagle is Australia’s second richest race and is for four-year-olds over 1500m, the same distance as the NZB Kiwi, the new slot race to have its inaugural running this weekend.

With its enormous stake the Golden Eagle has quickly become an international race with the last two runnings being won by English galloper Lake Forest and the Japanese-trained Obamburumai.

But three of the other four previous winners in its short history are Kiwi gallopers I Wish I Win, I’m Thunderstruck and Kolding, who would have been eligible for the NZB Kiwi had it been around in their three-year-old season.

With V’Landys having floated the idea, it is believed NZTR will work with Racing New South Wales to secure the Golden Ticket bonus, potentially meaning Saturday’s winner would have an obvious target to end 2025.

“We welcome Peter V’Landys’ offer to provide a golden ticket to the Golden Eagle for the winner of the NZB Kiwi,’ said NZTR chairman Russell Warwick.

“This will provide a strong added incentive for our owners, and a major boost to the inaugural running of the Southern Hemisphere’s richest three-year-old race.

“We thank Racing NSW, and I look forward to speaking further about this exciting opportunity with our slot holders and owners at Tuesday night’s NZB Kiwi barrier draw.”

Joe Doyle has picked up the ride on the Chris Waller-trained Konasana in Saturday’s $600,000 HKJC World Pool NZ Breeders Stakes at Ellerslie.

The high-class mare, winner of the Westbury on Karaka Millions night, was to have been ridden by Rory Hutchings but he will miss Saturday’s mega meeting after breaking his collarbone at Taupo last Wednesday.

Doyle will replace Hutchings on Konasana while Ryan Elliot has been engaged for his NZB Kiwi ride Sought After and Wiremu Pinn will now partner El Vencedor, who Hutchings was booked to ride in the $1m Bonecrusher NZ Stakes.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.