Ellerslie Racecourse

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The main stand at Ellerslie Racecourse.

Ellerslie Racecourse is the main racecourse in Ellerslie, Auckland, New Zealand for thoroughbred racehorses. It is an undulating, grass circuit of approximately 1,900 m.

History

The first race meeting was held at Ellerslie on 25 May 1874. At this time the racecourse was a considerable distance outside the city and it took Aucklanders several hours to get to the course by carriage. Now, the course is well within the city and only a matter of minutes away from the central business district.

Ellerslie Racecourse was the location of the first automatic totalisator, designed by George Julius and installed in 1913.

Champion racehorses to have raced at Ellerslie include Kindergarten, Balmerino, Bonecrusher, Uncle Remus, Japan Cup winner Horlicks, Il Tempo and Mr Tiz.

Ellerslie is home to two of New Zealand's major racing carnivals - the Summer Carnival and Auckland Cup Week. The Summer Carnival is run in the Christmas-New Year period with Boxing Day and New Year's Day formerly being home to the New Zealand Derby and Auckland Cup respectively, but these were moved to the new Auckland Cup Week in March 2006.

Steeplechasing

Stteplechasing at Ellerslie features the well-known "hill", a part of the course not used for flat racing. The major steeplechase at Ellerslie, the Great Northern Steeplechase, requires the horses to climb this hill 3 times in the 6400m event.

Races

The following is a list of Group races which are run at Ellerslie Racecourse.

Coordinates: 36°53′21.45″S 174°48′20.77″E / 36.8892917°S 174.8057694°E / -36.8892917; 174.8057694

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