New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing yesterday announced the Otago Racing Club would host a beefed-up feature meeting in March 2025 as part of a boosted summer programme following its partnership with Entain.
The exact make-up of the Wingatui day is to be confirmed but it appears it will include the Group 3 White Robe Lodge race, the listed Breeders Stakes, Dunedin Guineas and Dunedin Gold Cup races, and the Otago Daily Times Southern Mile final.
A draft itinerary shows the first four of those races getting massive stakes increases in both of the next two summers.
The White Robe Lodge leaps from $120,000 to $220,000 next year, and to $250,000 in 2026, while there are also stakes increases for the Guineas and the Gold Cup (both go from $100,000 to $170,000 then to $200,000) and the Breeders Stakes ($80,000 to $170,000 then to $200,000).
It means prize money combined for those races will hit $730,000 next year, and $850,000 in 2026. Add in the ODT Southern Mile ($200,000) and support races, and the race day stakes will climb past the million-dollar mark.
The news was greeted with delight by Otago Racing Club president Sharyn Anderton yesterday, though she highlighted the fact the itinerary for Wingatui was still to be confirmed.
"It’s pretty exciting for us," she said.
"We’ve been acknowledged by Entain, New Zealand Racing and the TAB, and it’s all because our committee has been so proactive, and the Southern Mile series has been so successful.
"It’s just carrying on from that, and it’s really exciting for Wingatui to have good stakes, good racing and good jockeys all on one day.
‘It’s a beautiful track — one of the best in New Zealand — and we are hoping this will attract North Island horses and jockeys, and will just be a really big day out.
"Racing is alive and well, and this is such good news for owners. If we didn’t have owners, we wouldn’t have racing, and this will really help them."
Anderton, who also credited the work of general manager Noelle Prince and the Wingatui team, said the finer details should be fleshed out at a roadshow in Dunedin with NZTR representatives next month.
Overall, stakes for the New Zealand summer of thoroughbred racing will jump from $13million this year to $22.5m next year and $26m in 2026.
The major talking point of yesterday’s announcement was the introduction of the southern hemisphere’s richest race for 3yr-old horses.
The inaugural NZB Kiwi slot race will carry stakes of at least $3.5m next year, increasing to $4.5m by 2027, and will be part of a new Champions Day at Ellerslie that will climb to $10m in total prize money.
A two-day Karaka Millions carnival will also be created to bookend the New Zealand Bloodstock yearling sales.
