Betting records beaten at Addington on Cup Day

Big fields, crowds returning to Addington and competitive harness racing all added up to TAB NZ customers betting record amounts on yesterday’s New Zealand Trotting Cup meeting at Addington.

Turnover on yesterday’s 13-race card reached $7.5 million, a record high for any New Zealand race meeting based on figures held for the last 20 years.

This was a jump of $0.9m on the 2020 New Zealand Cup meeting ($6.6m) which also had a 13-race card. The previous highest mark was $7.1m, set at the 2007 NZ Trotting Cup meeting.

The return of crowds this year contributed to on-course turnover of about $800,000, well up on last year’s total of $100,000 turnover from a limited crowd on course due to Covid restrictions.

Interest in the IRT NZ Trotting Cup – won by the Ray Green-trained Copy That for the second straight year – was stronger than ever, with turnover on the race hitting $1.9m, up from $1.6m in 2020 and $1.3m in 2021. This year’s edition of the Cup was considered to be one of the most open in recent years, with Australian-trained runners Majestic Cruiser and Rock N Roll Doo adding to trans-Tasman interest in the 3200m race.

Yesterday continued a trend that shows Cantabrians love their harness racing, even more so than the Melbourne Cup. Canterbury residents placed about $3.9m worth of bets across both digital and retail channels yesterday, compared to $2.7m on last week’s Melbourne Cup Day.

In all, more than 700,000 bets were placed on the day, and 40,000 customers were active through their accounts on the day, matching the previous record for a New Zealand race meeting, set in 2020.

Money spent with TAB NZ on NZ Trotting Cup Day, and every other day of the racing year, goes back to the New Zealand racing industry to fuel its future.

Big winning bets:

• $219 trifecta on the Cup returning $81,000 (account bet)
• $24 First4 bet on Race 10 returning $16,000 (account)
• $6 Boxed Trifecta on Race 10, returning $3400 (retail in Christchurch)
• $800 Pick6 returning $55,000 (sold on-course)

From TAB NZ