Racing: Auckland Cup gets a $250,000 stakes rise

A rise of $250,000 in the total stake for the Auckland Cup was announced at a special function at Ellerslie yesterday to launch the new Auckland Cup Week Carnival in March 2006.

The lift in stake for the race means it will now be worth $600,000 and provides for total stakes in excess of $2.1 million for Auckland Cup Week. In total the Auckland Racing Club has increased stakemoney across the board for the 2005/06 racing season in excess of $750,000.

"The Auckland Cup is our flagship event for the new Cup Week Carnival and at this level of stake we anticipate it will attract interest from not only New Zealand's best gallopers, but will continue the trend of Australian horses targeting our best races," said ARC chief executive Chris Weaver.

A feature of the Auckland Cup in 2006 will be the addition of increased opportunities to gain exemption from the ballot for the race.

The $200,000 City of Auckland Cup, run on New Year's Day, will provide exemptions for the first three runners home while the winner of the Otago Gold Cup, run at Wingatui on February 11, will also be provided with an exemption.

The idea of an entire week devoted to the 'sport of kings' is a bid to see Ellerslie emulate the success that now dominates the Australian racing scene at Flemington in Melbourne and more recently, at Royal Randwick in Sydney. The ultimate goal is to see the Auckland Cup become New Zealand's equivalent of the Melbourne Cup.

The Auckland Cup will be held on Wednesday, March 8, which will be the middle day of the three-day carnival. The $600,000 group one Mercedes Derby will be run on the first day on Saturday, March 4, with the feature of the third day being the $150,000 Darley Stakes and $150,000 Diamond Stakes on March 11.