Racing: It's horse racing, but not as we know it

Jockey Lee Rutherford and Auckland Racing Club ambassador Bridgette O'Sullivan. Picture / Brett Phibbs

The Auckland Racing Club is betting on a one-day cricket-style atmosphere bringing more punters to Ellerslie racetrack with its first twilight meeting next week.

A special condensed after-work programme of six races and betting tips to help first-timers will be followed by entertainment from Jordan Luck to put the crowd in a party mood.

"We want to show people the races are about entertainment and part of that is learning how to have a flutter. While a traditional race meeting offers around 10 races per day, the Twilight Races offers six races and a few special features to encourage novices to have a go," says club chief executive Chris Weaver.

Jockeys will be dressed in colour-coded silks, allowing bets to be simply placed, and one will wear black. Punters who wager on the "dark horse" stand to collect 10 per cent more than the declared dividend if it wins.

Jockeys will have their own theme songs which will be played as a victory salute. Characters such as Lady Luck will add to the spectacle and party atmosphere.

The meeting on Wednesday will be the first of two twilight events held in the lead-up to the inaugural Auckland Cup Week next March.

Auckland Cup Week is the club's big gamble on shifting some of its premier races to a new festival week which it hopes will in time match Christchurch's Cup Week and the Melbourne Cup carnival.

Christmas and New Year racing will remain big events on the racing calendar, but the club hopes by staging a new week-long event outside the holiday season, it will attract more corporate support and make Auckland a drawcard destination. Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard backs the move, and sees a March 4 to 11 carnival as one of the city's headline attractions.

* And for those who've twigged that Wednesday night is actually a one-day cricket night, the match will be shown in bars at the track. 


Twilight racing

* Where: At Ellerslie Race Course
* When: Wednesday, December 7 and Wednesday, February 8. Racing: 4.30pm-7.30pm, followed by a set from Jordan Luck and his band Luck
* Costs: $10 for adults, Children under 15 free.