Trotting bets down, spirits rise

DEAN KOZANIC/The Press

MR POPULAR: New Zealand Cup winner Changeover is swamped by some of his 74 adoring owners in the birdcage at Addington yesterday.

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The financial reins were tighter for Cup Day betting, but the fashion and bubbles flowed as freely as ever as a 25,000-strong crowd soaked up Christchurch's big day in the sun.

Favourite Changeover stormed down the final straight to win the New Zealand Trotting Cup in record time at Addington Raceway yesterday afternoon, claiming the $650,000 first prize in the $1.2 million race the country's richest-ever harness event.

The win gave Cambridge-based driver David Butcher and South Auckland trainer Geoff Small their first win in the cup after several near misses, and gave the horse's 74-strong ownership syndicate plenty to shout about.

Members of the Auckland Trot Syndicates swamped the birdcage after Changeover overcame a drama-packed start to run down Baileys Dream, with Report for Duty finishing third.

"I was thrilled to finally win the race," Butcher said.

"I wasn't worried he missed away at the start.

"Sometimes they just go so hard up front early in the cup. You are better off out of it, but I don't want to take too much away from Baileys Dream. He put up a great performance, too."

The beginning of the race was delayed for 6 1/2 minutes after several horses refused to settle, and during the restart Changeover galloped briefly before settling near the end of the field.

With a lap to go, Changeover and Baileys Dream went to the front and a blistering final sprint saw the winner slicing more than a second off Flashing Red's record time set last year.

One record that did not fall was Cup Day betting. Addington promotions manager Richard Bromley said punters may have succumbed to the recession, with betting figures down slightly from last year.

On-course bets totalled $2.16m ($2.3m last year), while off-course bets were $3.78m ($4.1m).

Early estimates of the crowd were 25,000, slightly down on the 26,000 who attended last year.

Police said the crowd was generally well-behaved, with the odd scuffle as the mix of alcohol and temperatures reaching 25deg took hold.

By day's end, high heels had been discarded and some punters lost the art of conversation.

A man sitting on the footpath in a blood-stained shirt had his head bandaged by St John staff, while a pair of punters manhandled an aggressive guest over to the police headquarters.

St John fundraising and promotions manager Regan De Burgh said 75 people received medical attention throughout the day, six of whom were taken to hospital by ambulance.

Most were young people who were intoxicated, had blisters or had cut themselves on glass.

"It was such a hot day as well," De Burgh said.

"Obviously sunburn's always an issue, but that didn't seem to rate that highly.

"It was just more people drinking a bit too much and then falling over and cutting themselves.

"It was a fairly steady day, and generally the people that we were dealing with were consistent with the crowds that were there so it was generally 20s and 30s."

Most of the crowd dispersed after the New Zealand Trotting Cup, with free buses into central Christchurch and a fleet of taxis ensuring many continued the celebrations long into the night.