Fashion fern debuts in Melbourne
Silver Ferns star Maria Tutaia is set to add more glamour to Flemington Racecourse when the Melbourne Cup is run in November.
The Victoria Racing Club has made Tutaia its first New Zealand ambassador.
The top netballer, who has been the face of Ellerslie Auckland Cup Day for the last four years and is known for her effortlessly glamorous style, told the Herald on Sunday it was a privilege to be chosen.
“I said yes straight away.
“It is one of the biggest racing, social, fashion events and many New Zealanders, well thousands of them, fly over to be part of the spring annual event.”
The position involves promoting the 2017 Melbourne Cup Carnival and trying to attract as many Kiwi as possible to go over to Melbourne for race day on November 7.
Tutaia made her first public appearance as an ambassador — looking stunning in racewear by retail partner Myer — by posing with the Cup at Westhaven Marina with the iconic Auckland skyline as a backdrop.
She’ll be reunited with the 18-carat gold Cup, which is worth NZ$216,000 and has its own passport and security guard, when it returns to
New Zealand in August to begin its annual tour of the country.
Tutaia said she was excited to be heading across the Tasman for the Melbourne Cup and hoped to see about 10,000 Kiwis there on race day.
“I’ve never attended a Melbourne
Cup event so I’m looking forward just to being amongst it.” The 30-year-old Silver Fern vice captain said she’d bet on a Kiwi horse taking out the top prize too.
“I’ll put a few pennies here and there and see where it takes me.” If history repeats itself Tutaia could get a healthy return on her money — 43 New Zealand-bred horses have taken out the Melbourne Cup since Martini Henry won more than a century ago.
Other famous Kiwi horses to succeed there include Carbine, Phar Lap and Prince of Penzance.
The latter was ridden by jockey Michelle Payne during her historic 2015 win.
Tutaia hoped her Australian-based fiance, Warratahs star Israel Folau, will join her at this year’s Melbourne Cup — which will also be his first — if his schedule allows him to.
I said yes straight away. It is one of the biggest racing, social, fashion events. Maria Tutaia