Odds-on for stunning NZ Cup and Show Week

Fine weather, an 18C high and a bumper crowd are the early tips for Cup Day in Christchurch.

A big crowd is expected to be trackside at Addington Raceway on Cup Day.

Tens of thousands of racegoers and farming fans are forecast to celebrate NZ Cup and Show Week  as the demand for tickets to Addington Raceway and Riccarton Park – along with the three-day Canterbury A&P Show at Canterbury Agricultural Park – heats up.

More than 20,000 people are expected at Addington on Tuesday, 14 November as the best pacers line up in the $800,000 Christchurch Casino New Zealand Trotting Cup over 3200 metres.

Tickets to Addington’s social hub, the Lindauer Lawn, are being snapped up, while the “sold out” sign is already posted on the corporate hospitality marquees.

NZ Cup and Show Week kicks off at Riccarton on Saturday, 11 November, culminating with the clash of the nation’s top gallopers in the $250,000 Christchurch Casino NZ Cup on Saturday, 18 November.

For the fashionable crowd, both Addington and Riccarton are seeking out the on-course best-dressed.

Meanwhile, the country comes to town from Wednesday, 15 November for the 155th Canterbury A&P Show. The A&P Show offers the opportunity to get up close to the farm animals, take in the duck herding, throw a gumboot or two, marvel at the Grand Parade of livestock or let the children try their hands at shearing – albeit on a toy sheep.

More than 500 people volunteer at the Canterbury A&P Show and about 120 of these volunteers are judges, with some coming from as far afield as the United States this year.

"Bringing these judges in from overseas is a huge drawcard for our competitors,” Canterbury A&P Association president Peter Gilbert says. “Not only do they bring extensive international experience, it's also extra confirmation for our competitors that their stock is the best of the best as they're being judged by someone completely new."

With limited parking available, public transport offers ease of access to all three venues.

At the end of Cup Day, Addington is providing a free drop‐off bus service for on‐course patrons.

Red Bus will ferry patrons from the Wrights Road end of the course from 5.30pm every half an hour through to 7pm, dropping off passengers in Riccarton and Merivale.

An alcohol ban will operate around Addington on Cup Day from 9am to 10pm. The ban area is bounded by Lincoln Road, Moorhouse Avenue, Blenheim Road, Matipo Street and Wrights Road.

A temporary alcohol ban will also be in place around Riccarton Racecourse on the final Saturday from 7am to 12 midnight, in an area bounded by Yaldhurst Road to Middlepark Road; Epsom Road to Racecourse Road; and Buchanans Road to Masham Road to Yaldhurst Road.