Auckland race fans, or simply those looking for a party, have been quick to snap up the prime spots created by alert levels uncertainty for tomorrow's Cup Day at Ellerslie.
Ellerslie bosses are pressing ahead as if tomorrow will be a normal Cup Day open to the public with the expectation that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will today announce that Auckland will move to alert level 1 before Saturday at noon.
"We made the decision on Wednesday to press on as if that will be the case because we had to start putting everything in place," says Ellerslie chief executive Paul Wilcox.
"We have been watching the case numbers like everybody else and if that changes and the Government announces a different decision we will react to that but we have to plan for a full Cup Day experience because that is what we hope we will get."
Because of the uncertainty some patrons who had booked for the hospitality areas have cancelled but vacancies in prime areas like Cuvee and Silks have quickly been filled.