Distance 6400 m Track Right-handed | Surface Turf | |
Location Ellerslie Racecourse
Auckland, New Zealand Race type Thoroughbred - Jump Racing Website www.ellerslie.co.nz/Home.aspx | ||
The Great Northern Steeplechase is New Zealand's richest steeplechase. It is run over 6400m at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, making it Australasia's longest horse race, and usually takes between eight and eight and a half minutes to complete. The race has been run in early September since 2005, after previously being held in early June.
The contestants must clear 25 jumps during the 6400m race, making it one of the great tests of stamina and fitness in thoroughbred racing, for both horse and rider. A notable feature of the track is the Ellerslie Hill, on the eastern side of the steeplechase course, which the horses must climb three times during the race.
The inaugural race was won by Macaroni, who carried a weight of 12 stone (76 kg). The record weight carried to victory was 12 stone 13 lb (82.5 kg) by Kiatere in 1907. One of the most notable winners of the race was Hunterville, who won the race three times in 1983, 1984 and 1985. In 2010 Hypnotize doubled the number of horses to succeed three times, his victory following wins in 2007 and 2008.
The fastest winning time was 7:39.35 by Ballycastle in 1978, and the slowest was 8:52.06 by Ascona in 1977. There was a dead-heat in 2001 between Smart Hunter, which had won the Great Northern Hurdles two days earlier, and Sir Avion, which had won the Great Northern Hurdles in 1998. It was the first dead-heat in a major New Zealand jumping race since the Otago Steeplechase in 1918.