Alexandra Park

Alexandra Park did not always have a royal name, but it always had a sporting heritage.

It is possible the racing, rugby and football kicked off here as early as 1842, when it was part of the Potter family farm and went by the name Potter's Paddock or Potter's Field. The field later became grazing for draught horses who worked on the tramways, but was still used for sport. In 1897, the Duke of Cornwall visited, and the surrounding parkland was named for him, with the racing part carved off and named for Queen Alexandra.

Since 1912, Alexandra Park has been given over to trotting and harness racing, and the Friday Night Trots have been happening under lights since 1958.

As well as hosting conferences and functions, the complex has a range of long term commercial tenants including Cirque du Soleil, sometimes the Auckland Blues, two restaurants and of course the TAB.The Easter Show is a popular annual fixture and the Auckland Flower Show is now held here in November.

With the racing industry facing increasingly challenging times in the new millenium, this organisation made a brave call to carve off a portion of land for residential development.Alexandra Park Urban Village, designed in 2014, then hit a few hurdles of it's own and was still under construction in 2020.

Image Credit: Alexandra Park, April 1973, Archives New Zealand