New Ellerslie track looking the part

Paul Wilcox admits to more than his share of sleepless nights over the past 18 months, but as the approaching summer days get longer, so too does his anticipation grow for what’s around the corner at northern racing headquarters.
As CEO of Auckland Thoroughbred Racing, Wilcox has been in the middle of the most ambitious racecourse development in New Zealand racing, the instillation of an international standard StrathAyr track on Ellerslie’s hallowed turf.
The programming schedule for a return to racing at Ellerslie on January 14 ahead of a super-charged Karaka Millions meeting a fortnight later is looking increasingly realistic as all the necessary elements come together.
The multi-million dollar StrathAyr project has not been without its challenges, ranging from the removal of tonnes of volcanic rocks from the Ellerslie substrata to dealing with the vagaries of Auckland weather and most of all the devastating floods that hit the region in January.
“There’s still a reasonable amount of water to flow under the bridge, but the anxiety levels are certainly reducing as things have come together lately,” Wilcox told RaceForm this week.
“Some of the challenges in the project such as dealing with the basalt rock that’s part of the Auckland landscape and dealing with the old drainage systems, we knew about and planned for them. But the weather was something we couldn’t predict or plan around, and we got it in bucket-loads.
“The wet weather days in the contract far exceeded what anyone had bargained for, and it wasn’t just a matter of the machinery not being able to work while it was raining, our contractors also had to wait for the ground to dry out enough to get back to work.”
All projects of varying scale have been hit with cost blowouts during and since the Covid era, and Ellerslie’s was no different.
“The track development budget that the ATR Board signed off was $44.2 million, but now it’s been completed that has blown out to $53 million,” Wilcox revealed. “Pretty much all of that was weather-related and the rest was inflation.
“The combination of sun, rain and fertiliser have done wonders for the track through springtime; we’re finally where we want to be and we’re thrilled with what we’ve got. To put it in a racing context, we’re balanced up turning into the home straight and we’re about to give the horse full rein.”
Water is an essential element for any racing surface, to which end a 20-million litre reservoir has been installed in the Ellerslie infield.
“The new big pond will collect an estimated 96 per cent of all water that falls on the track –both irrigation and rain,” Wilcox explained. “That will be recycled for irrigation back onto the track, and while it does not make us self-sufficient during a protracted dry spell, it’s a major uplift on what we previously had.”
From the very start, the project has been overseen by the Australian-based StrathAyr franchise-holders that have installed similar surfaces at major international venues, but after a full inspection earlier this month, management of the track was handed back to ATR.
“Our track manager Jason Fulford and the rest of the team here have worked closely with the StrathAyr guys from day one. It’s been very well-managed, which after all it had to be given its scale and significance,” Wilcox added.
“To witness the massive earthworks from the start, then laying the foundations beginning with a gravel base, then a layer with the subsoil drainage, the lower sand layer and the final piece, the reflex mesh matrix and the peat moss growing medium – there have been so many complexities.
“The sand came from a supplier south of Whangarei and the peat moss from the West Coast of the South Island, so those two components were pretty big by themselves.
“But to see what we’ve ended up with has made it all worthwhile. Understandably there’s been a lot of interest in the project and everyone who has been through and taken a close look at the finished product is suitably impressed.”
Actual testing of the track under hooves will be a step-by-step process, beginning with a handful of horses being ridden over it in the second week of November. More extensive gallops will follow covering all areas of the track, then organised jumpouts in the first week of December and the final sign-off, a set of trials in the week before Christmas.
“We are obliged to adhere to the official NZTR sign-off process, but without stating it’s only a process, I’m at 90 per cent before a horse has stepped onto the track that we’ll be all go heading into January.”
Hand-in-hand with the track development, ATR has announced further significant stakes increases for the 2023-24 season, which in a feature racing context kicks off with Saturday’s meeting at Pukekohe Park headlined by the $175,000 Gr. 2 Jamieson Park Soliloquy Stakes.
On top of the $20 million-plus countrywide stakes injection announced by NZTR in the wake of the landmark Entain/TAB NZ strategic partnership, ATR has committed another $3 million to what will be a total of $18.7 million stakes payout through the current season.
“We’ve made no secret of the fact that our new business model is designed to offer sustainable returns to the industry and whilst it may take time to see ultimately reach the returns we’d like to see, we are heading in the right direction,” Wilcox added.
All 20 of ATR’s meetings will race for a minimum stake of $25,000, an increase of $5,000 on last season’s levels, while at the other end of the equation, Group One minimums will be $450,000.
The cherry on top of the ATR calendar is the TAB Karaka Millions meeting, which has further cemented its position as New Zealand’s richest single race meeting with total stakes of $4.25 million. Further enhancements are the boosted stake of $1.5 million for the TAB Karaka Millions 3YO and a new 1600m race open to all four-year-olds, the $1 million Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic.
The early March Iconic meeting is headed by the $1 million Vodafone New Zealand Derby on March 2 and a week later the $500,000 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup.
“It’s important that we reward our very best horses and their connections, but it’s also important to look after those further down the chain, right through to midweek maiden grade,” Wilcox said.
“We haven’t forgotten the hard workers we rely so heavily on either, which is why at every ATR meeting all strappers will receive a $12 voucher to enable them to have something to eat and drink on us.
“Our Love of the Horse promotion, which is open to those industry participants who may otherwise not be recognised, is another initiative that we’re only too happy to be part of.”