Zealand's major racing carnivals - the Summer Carnival and Auckland Cup Week. The Summer Carnival is run in the Christmas-New Year period with Boxing Day and New Year's Day formerly being home to the New Zealand Derby and Auckland Cup respectively, but these were moved to the new Auckland Cup Week in March 2006. Steeplechasing Steeplechasing at Ellerslie uses the well-known "hill." The jumping track leaves the course proper just before the 1000 metre mark at the end of the back straight and rises approximately 16 metres to the top of the hill, where there are two steeplechase fences 100 metres apart. There is another at the foot of the hill where the steeplechase track rejoins the course proper just after the 600-metre mark. The total length of this section of the track is approximately 750 metres. It is not used for flat racing. The major steeplechase at Ellerslie, the Great Northern Steeplechase, requires the horses to climb this hill 3 times in the 6400m event. Races The following is a list of Group races which are run at Ellerslie Racecourse. Other races of note in the past include: Great Northern Foal Stakes, currently a listed race known as the Auckland Futurity Stakes. DB Draught Classic. Great Northern St. Leger. See also Thoroughbred racing in New Zealand Trentham Racecourse References Sports venues in Auckland Horse racing venues in New Zealand Cross country running venues Ōrākei Local Board Area