If you love racing, there are few better ways to kick off a New Year than to be amidst a big and happy Ascot crowd on a summery Perth afternoon, watching the field go down to the start for The Cup!.

Home Affairs posted his first stakes-winner on New Year's Day and for good measure made it a quinella with his two strapping bay youngsters Kinnaird and Harvey Wallbanger fighting out the finish of the Group II Skycity Eclipse Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie in New Zealand.