19 October 2009

For immediate use

New Zealanders got right behind the prestigious Caulfield Cup horse race in Australia on Saturday with the TAB experiencing a record off-course turnover on the race, NZ Racing Board Chief Executive Andrew Brown announced today.

Off-course turnover through the New Zealand TAB on the A$2.5 million Caulfield Cup on Saturday was up more than 10 per cent on last year with a total of more than $1 million bet on the race for the first time ever.

"There are only four individual races that have ever broken the $1m off-course turnover barrier before in New Zealand -- the Melbourne Cup, the Auckland Cup, the New Zealand Trotting Cup and the Wellington Cup," Mr Brown said.

Mr Brown said the Caulfield Cup day had always been one of the biggest race days in Australia and the strong Kiwi presence in the race had obviously captured the interest of New Zealand punters as well.

There were four New Zealand trained horses in the race including three times Group 1 winner Daffodil, who finished fourth, Harris Tweed, Red Ruler and Sarrera.

"This bodes well for a strong Kiwi interest in the Melbourne Cup, which is the biggest day of the year for the New Zealand TAB with more than $7.6 million bet on the race last year," Mr Brown said.

Daffodil has now shortened from $21 to $16 in the TAB's Fixed Odds for the big 3200m Melbourne Cup race on Tuesday 3 November.

Ends