Sydney autumn carnival features drive NZ turnover jump

Feature races during The Championships proved the most bet on races in New Zealand throughout April, with the Doncaster Mile, won by exciting filly Sheza Alibi, leading the way as the highest turnover race for Entain during the month.

Entain NZ released its monthly update on Wednesday, revealing that NZ$580,000 was turned over on the Doncaster and NZ$572,000 on the TJ Smith on the same day. New Zealand-owned mare Joliestar won the feature sprint.

The highest turnover New Zealand race was the Trelawney Stud Championship Stakes at Ellerslie, at $492,000, finishing third overall but eclipsing the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick, which was won by Sir Delius.

Overall turnover on New Zealand thoroughbred racing grew by 9.3 per cent on the same month last year to $36.5 million, while harness spend ($17.9 million) and greyhound betting $7.4 million) was down.

Greyhound racing is set to end In New Zealand at the end of next month.

Overall, $154.7 million was gambled on racing by New Zealand punters, with $61.4 million of that on racing product in New Zealand.

The total number of active customers on the racing codes grew from 101,428 to 114,681 compared to April 2025, despite average field size falling in both thoroughbreds and harness.

Sports turnover in New Zealand continues to go from strength to strength, up 61 per cent on April 2025 across the TAB NZ and betcha brands. It totalled $143.2 million, slightly less than overall racing spend.

The results come as Entain announces improvements to its digital platform, including extended place betting and the expansion of same-race multis.

Entain is expecting strong punter engagement during the football World Cup, which, in addition to being in a friendly time zone, features the New Zealand national team for the first time since 2010.