Countdown begins today for The Ascent and The Velocity

It's only August but the countdown is officially on to Addington's two big slot races on Show Day in November.

Each of the 20 slot-holders who took part in last year's Velocity and Ascent will get first option to get involved this year.

Last year the all-conquering Keayang Zahara won the Majestic Horse Floats LP Ascent for slot-holders Breckon Racing/Richard Cole while Better Knuckle Up was victorious for Entain in the Hill Lee and Scott The Velocity.

From today those slot-holders have 10 working days to take up that option as per last year's agreement.

If slots are available after this time an open invitation will be issued for interested parties to make an application, these will be advertised via the Addington and HRNZ websites. Those making an application will be encouraged to provide a marketing plan around how they will get exposure for the race through their own marketing initiatives and these will be evaluated by the selection committee.

From this point when all slots are full an announcement will be made similar to last year when the slot holders have found their horse. This will be released through the Box Seat show on Trackside each Tuesday.

"The initial indications are very positive from those who participated last year," says Trackside presenter Greg O'Connor, who's in charge of the slots process for Addington Raceway.

"There is also quite a bit of new interest with people starting to get an understanding of how these slot races work."

In the TAB's Futures market, Marketplace ($1.45) and Meant To be ($1.90) are the current favourites for the 2025 editions of the Velocity and The Ascent.