Sky Racing World, the Louisville, Kentucky-based distributor of international horse-racing content and subsidiary of Australian wagering operator Tabcorp, has announced the relaunch of its New Zealand racing product. Sky Racing World will begin distributing horse-racing content from New Zealand Racing Board-operated tracks to North American advance depositing wagering (ADW) sites starting Jan. 25th EST/PST ahead of the G1 Karaka Million this weekend.
After a six-month hiatus, Sky Racing World will once again distribute New Zealand horse-racing content to US and Canadian ADWs – including TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRA Bets, WatchandWager, AmWager, and BetAmerica – from 6:25 p.m. EST or 3:25 p.m. PST on Thursday, Jan. 25th EST/PST (12:25 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 26th in New Zealand). Nine races will feature in this inaugural race-day run at Pukekohe Park Raceway, near Auckland.
The Pukekohe races will serve to whet North American customers’ appetites for New Zealand racing ahead of the country’s prestigious Karaka Million race meet at Ellerslie Racecourse this Friday, Jan. 26th. With racing starting at 10:40 p.m. EST or 7:40 p.m. PST (4:40 p.m. New Zealand time on Saturday, Jan. 27th), the day features two of New Zealand’s richest races – the G1 $1 million NZD ($730,000) Karaka Million for two-year-olds and the $1 million NZD Karaka Million 3 YO Classic – as well as four other Group-status races.
Longines’ 2017 best-ranked world jockey Hugh Bowman will be riding Al Hasa in the G1 Karaka Million and Five to Midnight in the G3 Windsor Park Stud. Following the Karaka Million, Sky Racing World will provide North American ADWs with New Zealand racing content from five to six days a week, depending on the racing schedule.
David Haslett, President and CEO of Sky Racing World, said: “Following the launch of our South Korean racing product last July, we’re excited to continue to diversify the international racing content available to our North American ADW partners and, by extension, their customers through our relaunched New Zealand racing product. Not only complementary to our core Australian racing product as well as the North American racing schedule, New Zealand offers world-class races – from the upcoming Karaka Million, to Auckland Cup week in March, to this autumn’s Spring Classic and New Zealand 2000 Guineas.”