Racing in NSW to benefit from another $25 million prize-money injection
Prize-money throughout New South Wales is set to benefit from a $25 million injection, with Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’Landys revealing yesterday the further raft of initiatives being introduced are part of a big-picture approach as racing looks to shore up its future.
The enormous windfall is set to benefit every level of racing in the state, from increases at stakes level down to the picnics, while the new races announced include a $2 million race at Randwick on Melbourne Cup day – The Big Dance (1600m) – which will add to Sydney’s revamped Everest spring carnival.
The Big Dance will be restricted to horses who have contested any one of 25 Country Cups across NSW that year and will be held after the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) is run on the first Tuesday in November and will be part of a day of celebration which will also include a performance by a major international musical act after the final event.
Meanwhile, another $2 million race, The Five Diamonds (1800m), has also been added to the NSW spring programme, with the 1800-metre event set to be run at Rosehill on November 5, the same day as the Golden Gift (1100m), while the Craven Plate (Gr 3, 2000m) will be reduced to 1800 metres to act as a lead-up for the race. Meanwhile, a new three-year-old race – Tapp-Craig (1400m) – will also be run on Caulfield Guineas day and be worth $500,000.
With the recently announced increases in prize-money for the Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), which was increased to $5 million, and the Golden Eagle (1500m) to $8 million, this brings total prize-money increases in NSW for 2022 to $27 million.
Racing NSW CEO Peter V’Landys said yesterday the new look raceday’s main aim was to attract a younger demographic and not to detract from Victoria’s feature event.
“I think they (Victoria) should be pleased because we are promoting racing. And if New South Wales can have a big event on that particular day and attract the under-35s … the Melbourne Cup is a traditional race, a legendary race. But young people want their own events, they want their own generational events and we are supplying that,” he said.
“The Everest at the moment, 80 per cent of the audience is under 35 (years of age). On Melbourne Cup day, we want the majority of the audience under 35. As a sport you’ve got to look 20 years ahead. If you don’t start attracting those under-25s now, when they turn 40 or 50, they won’t even know what racing is.
“Next week is Valentine’s Day. Why wouldn’t all the florists be open on that particular day when you are going to sell the most product? It’s the same here for us. On that particular day, the Victorians do a great job in attracting the national audience, so we are just going to provide our own flowers.”
Victoria’s racing minister Martin Pakula was confident The Big Dance would not detract from the Melbourne Cup.
“It is a Country Cup final and New South Wales can call it The Big Dance, the greatest show on earth (or) nirvana, it doesn’t really matter,” he told Racing.com.
“It’s not going to detract from the Melbourne Cup. It becomes a problem when it impacts the field. This won’t impact on the field (because) I’m pretty confident that no horse running in a Country Cup final would otherwise be running in the Melbourne Cup.
“We’ve got the best racing industry in the country, we’ve got the most iconic spring carnival, we’ve got all the biggest events and I think it’s a testament to our strength and a testament to the nature of our calendar that other jurisdictions want what we’ve got,” he continued. “But they’re not going to get what we’ve got.
“(Melbourne Cup day) is a unique raceday that’s been mooted on arguably the biggest day’s racing across the country, over 40 clubs around the country choose to hold a meeting on that day and it’s no surprise that ‘The Race That Stops A Nation’, while over $700 million is wagered over the carnival, the key four days here at Flemington, over $200 million is on the Cup alone.”
The $25 million increase in prize-money includes upgrades across all levels of racing, with the new minimum purse for a Group 1 race now $600,000, while $250,000 will be the minimum for Group 2 races and $200,000 for Group 3 contests. Listed minimum prize-money is now $160,000. Minimums across Picnic races have been lifted to $5,000, $25,000 for Country TAB, $40,000 for Provincial, while Metropolitan midweek and Metropolitan Saturday races will be a minimum of $55,000 and $150,000 respectively.
The Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), which has long been regarded as a lead-up for the VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m), will now be worth $2 million and be moved to October 22, a week away from the Victorian Group 1. The prize-money for the Dulcify Stakes (Listed, 1500m) will also be increased to $250,000 and prize-money for the Gloaming Stakes (Gr 3, 1800m) increased to $500,000, with both races rescheduled to provide a staying path to the Spring Champion Stakes.
Meanwhile, the Stan Fox Stakes (Gr 2, 1500m) for three-year-olds will be renamed as the Callander-Presnell (Gr 2, 1600m) and will be run at Randwick on October 22 and be worth $1 million, replacing The Bondi (1600m).
In further changes to the spring programme, the Winx Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) prize-money will increase from $500,000 to $750,000 and the Silver Eagle (1300m) will be worth $1 million, having previously been run for $500,000.
The Inglis Classic sale concluded on Tuesday with increases across the board, with the auction recording an average of $122,612, up 20 per cent on last year’s $102,546, and Australian Bloodstock’s Jamie Lovett told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday the increases in the yearling market are in line with the rise in prize-money in the past few years.
“We’re very fortunate and it has been well documented that we are all the beneficiaries of the industry. It is as good as I have ever seen it and it certainly doesn’t look to be plateauing and it looks as though there are announcements coming from Victoria as well so we’re in a very fortunate position,” he said.
“The yearling market is indicative of just how healthy the industry is overall and that is obviously all underpinned by prize-money. The future looks very bright and obviously with the autumn carnival just round the corner, everyone has a spring in their step.
“It’s all relative. The average for the Classic sale for years was about $40,000-$50,000 and those days are certainly gone and I think last year was around $100,000 and I think it might have even gone up this year 20 per cent to around $120,000, but this is all in line with where the prize-money levels have gone.
“But that being said, you’ve still got to be able to fill these horses and participation, from my point of view, is the most important thing. We have only been home a day or two and we have already got 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the horses we bought sold, which gives you a lot of confidence ahead of the next sale and when businesses and companies have got that attitude it gives breeders and vendors the confidence to do what they do well.
“There is always a little bit of an overlay and a small percentage of horses to mop up after each sale, we spent $2,500,000 at Magic Millions, so there is always a little bit of a tailend to clean up, but they are very close to being all sold and we didn’t spend quite as much at Classic, but we thought we bought particularly well and most of those in the last 24 hours have been sold.”
With a significant part of his business focused on country racing, Lovett was also buoyed by the significant investment Racing NSW will make in those ranks.
“Peter V’Landys has revitalised racing in country New South Wales in particular, via the Country Championships, the Kosciuszko and the Country Cups and now with this new $2 million race announced today,” said Lovett.
“We at Australian Bloodstock support country racing, we have 25 horses or so in training with Cody Morgan and, from a participation angle, that has brought a lot of new owners to our business and a lot of young country lads and ladies have got involved with us and we have been fortunate to have had some success in those areas.”
Lovett said capitalising on participation does come with its challenges, namely horse aftercare, something he believes has also improved in recent times.
“For me it all comes down to participation and the more people that engage in our sport the better. But with further participation there are challenges that come with that and I think the industry has done well in recent times to address that with new welfare measures and certainly we are all on the one page ensuring that welfare and aftercare is the single most important thing,” he said.
“The welfare issue has been in the forefront of people’s minds in recent times and Racing New South Wales and Racing Victoria have really driven this to make animal welfare the main priority and we all have to tow the line now and I think there have been some really positive outcomes.”
As well as the increases in prize-money, Racing NSW also announced yesterday a commitment of $6 million has also been made to upgrade the course proper at Warwick Farm, with Rosehill and Randwick to receive similar attention down the track.
“These prize-money increases are a reflection of the strength of the NSW thoroughbred racing industry and, importantly, will provide increased returns to owners and participants across all sectors of racing in NSW,” said Racing NSW chairman Russell Balding.
“The additional feature races for the Sydney Spring Carnival will complement the success that The Everest and The Golden Eagle have had already and provide even more opportunities for racing to attract new customers.
“The $6 million investment in Warwick Farm trackworks is part of Racing NSW’s overall strategy to ensure we have the proper racing infrastructure in place to underpin the sustainability of our industry.”
Victoria plotting their own Spring prize-money boosts
The Victoria Racing Club and Racing Victoria have also been in talks about possible prize-money boosts to their spring programme, with the changes expected to be announced in the next six-to-eight weeks.
Following disappointing fields in key races on Stakes Day, VRC CEO Steve Rosich confirmed to Racing.com yesterday that the final day of the Flemington carnival will be one of the major focuses for the club, while improvements to the races on Cup and Oaks days are also under consideration and he also confirmed conversations with RV around prize-money increases had already begun.
“Again, the focus will be the Group 1s that are held across those four days. We have a great platform. Record engagement, record audience and record wagering just last year. That’s a continuing growth pattern,” he said.
“My recollection was a $17 million increase here in Victoria over the last racing season, which is clearly a significant investment, particularly given the high base that’s already there. I’ve got no doubt there will be enhancements next year based on our preliminary conversations.
“(The club has been in) consistent communication with Racing Victoria about where we think that investment should be made and where that innovation should be made.
“We think we are getting great traction on that. We are looking forward to progressing those discussions and then getting to the market in probably six-to-eight weeks’ time and talking about some enhancements not only about the spring, but also the autumn.”
RV said they would take into consideration the announcements made by Racing NSW during their own planning process.
“We’ll be taking our time to review and consider all elements within today’s announcement to determine what implications, if any, there are for Victorian racing and our iconic Spring Racing Carnival,” an RV spokesperson said.
“Our annual planning process for the next racing season, including prize-money allocations, reaches its culmination in the second quarter of the year and we won’t be rushing to change that.
“As our biggest and most famous raceday, the Melbourne Cup has served to grow thoroughbred racing in Australia for the benefit of the sport nationally for more than 160 years and we know that it will continue to do that into the future.”