It is now just under a week until the start of the Northern Lights Autumn Carnival.
The rejigged programme will feature 13 group 1s and nearly $5 million in feature race stakes on offer from March to May at Alexandra Park and Cambridge Raceway.
The carnival starts on March 6 with the third round of Young Guns Heats for the 2-year-olds at Alexandra Park, as well as the $17,000 Northern Mares Gateway.
A week later it is the $60,000 group 2 Alabar Classic and the $70,000 Caduceus Club Ladyship Stakes for the 3-year-olds as well as the group 3 $40,000 Founders (pacers) and Greenlane (trotting) Cups.
March 20 is shaping up as a stellar night at Alexandra Park.
The 2-year-olds will fight it out for $100,000 and group 1 glory in the Delightful Lady (fillies) and Cardigan Bay Stakes (colts and geldings), there will be two listed Harness Million finals worth $200,000 and $150,000, plus the City of Auckland Free For All and the Northern Mares Classic for the pacers and the $60,000 group 2 Lyell Creek Stakes.
April begins with two $60,000 group 2s in the form of the Flying Miles for the Trotters and Pacers at Cambridge on April 2 before attention turns to the jam-packed Night of Champions on Friday, April 10 with the $1m The Race front and centre.
The Taylor Mile-Anzac Cup night at Alexandra Park a fortnight later then leads into the Northern Derby and Oaks on May 1 as well as the Roy Purdon Memorial and the $120,000 3YO Sires' Stakes Trotters Championship.
A week later another huge night looms with the $200,000 group 1 Sires' Stakes Final for the fillies, the $100,000 Messenger, the $100,000 Young Guns, the $100,000 Northern Trotting Derby and the $200,000 Rowe Cup.
All told, the three months will feature nine race nights with 29 group or listed races and $4.6m in feature race stakes. — HRNZ.
