KEY POINTS:
It just keeps getting better.
On Tuesday the Auckland Racing Club dedicated a further $140,000 to the Auckland Cup Week, which follows the announcement the ARC has increased total stakes for the season by $1.205 million.
"As a direct result of the success of the New Zealand Herald Christmas Carnival the club has been able to make this significant increase," said ARC chief executive Chris Weaver.
Weaver said the announcement had been put on hold to ensure bad weather had not caused a financial downturn to the just-completed three-day carnival.
The club can be justifiably proud that the latest increase will see the minimum stake for the March 3, 7 and 10 meeting rise from $20,000 to $25,000, which includes 12 maiden and R76 races.
"It's significant to note that 12 months ago PQ-rated races were worth [only] $27,500," said Weaver.
On top of the $700,000 each for the SkyCity Auckland Cup and Mercedes Derby, the Darley Plate (1200m, WFA) has gone from $70,000 to $100,000, Westbury Classic up $10,000 to $50,000, with similar rises to the ABN Amro Salvar, Telecom Ellerslie Oaks and a number of other races yet to be named.
We learned a few things from the New Zealand Herald Carnival.
The standout lesson was that splitting the carnival between Christmas/New Year (second year) and March works magnificently as an overall concept.
The ARC was let down on Boxing Day by several small fields and we now know only too well that betting levels are in direct relation to horse numbers.
But, boy, was the crowd there. The biggest in 20 years, said some.
On the subject of small fields, anyone wanting to take on a $6000 race elsewhere instead of one of the $25,000 maiden races at Ellerslie in March needs locking up.
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We also learned that some of the massive younger set that showed up on Boxing Day need to put more water in it, or at least stand out of the sun while drinking.
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Also that you can ignore a lot of the New Year's Day form.
You don't need a great deal of rain on a firm track to change the racing pattern and punters took a hiding in many of the races on Monday when the form index didn't stack up.
There will be a lot of form reversals when some of those horses strike a firm surface next time.
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Post Thyme will do well from her new base with Melbourne trainer Lee Freedman.
The classy filly had been looking for the 2000m of Monday's Royal Stakes, but got no luck.
She didn't help herself fumbling her way out of the starting stalls, then got too far back and finally ran out of room when Lisa Cropp was pushing her through a gap 200m out.
She is being aimed in Australia at the AJC Oaks, but she'll win a decent race there beforehand.
Shame Flemington is out of play for most of the year - it's her type of track, but Sandown will suit.
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You wouldn't expect anything else from Sam Kelt than to announce a $2 million stake for this year's Kelt Capital Stakes (up from $1 million) at Hastings on Monday when the spotlight was on Ellerslie. Sam does everything differently from most.
The thing he's done most differently is being the driving force behind New Zealand's richest horse race.
There are those who would lessen the kudos, but don't kid yourself that this race could be where it is without the Hawkes Bay financial whiz.
Sensationally, he has done it without one dollar of industry money.
That's unbelievable.
For stakemoney that's up there with the Australian Cup and is chasing down races like the Caulfield Cup.
For those dollars we'll see Australians here again like Starcraft and Japanese horses are on the club's wish list.
Well done Sam Kelt.
Good health is still a way off after the head trauma he received in the criminal bashing at Mt Maunganui and many of his business interests have been dropped off.
Racing can count itself lucky - and needs to thank its benefactor - for remaining on the original list.
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Merging our betting pools with Australia's Tabcorp - hopefully next month - will be a boost right up there with the $32 million Racing Minister Winston Peters found for the horses.
And it might be about to get even better.
Tabcorp expects to hear in the next 10 days whether it will merge with Victoria's SuperTAB, creating more than $10 billion a year in betting pools rather than Tabcorp's half that amount.
SuperTAB includes the betting from Western Australia, ACT and Tasmania.
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Darren Gauci got a kick-in-the-bum New Year's present when told he's lost the mount on El Segundo, rated Australia's best racehorse.
El Segundo is heading to the Dubai World Cup carnival in March and Gauci has been handed his "not required" card. Rumour is that Damien Oliver is the replacement.
