NSW racing prepares for life after Winx with $45 million revamp
Sydney’s new-look spring carnival will boost it’s total prize money by $15 million after adding several $1 million support races to compliment the two richest sprints in the country.
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Sydney’s revamped spring carnival now boasts nine consecutive Saturday meetings with at least one race worth $1 million prizemoney.
Racing NSW and Australian Turf Cup unveiled the new-look $45 million spring carnival program which also includes two new Saturday stand-alone meetings at Newcastle and Kembla Grange.
Sydney’s spring program is positioned to cater primarily for Australian racing’s strengths in the sprinter-miler ranks and now provides a viable and lucrative alternative to Melbourne’s traditional carnival which has its emphasis on stayers.
In Sydney and at the provincials during spring, there will be at least one race worth a minimum $1 million each Saturday for nine consecutive weeks starting with the Golden Rose (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on September 28.
The centrepiece of the Sydney spring carnival is the $14 million The Everest (1200m), the richest race on turf in the world and run at Royal Randwick on October 19.
This is now complemented by the nation’s second richest race, the inaugural running of the $7.5 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens run two weeks after The Everest.
To support the Golden Eagle meeting, a new $1 million feature sprint will be introduced over the Rosehill 1300m that will be renamed each year in honour of the previous year’s Everest winner.
This spring it will be known as The Redzel Stakes and is programmed to keep the best sprinters in Sydney racing for the spring carnival.
The Golden Eagle meeting will also see the running of the $500,000 Rosehill Gold Cup (2000m) with a stayers bonus attached from the various feature distance races through October.
The path to the Golden Eagle includes a new race, the $500,000 Silver Eagle over 1300m at Royal Randwick on October 12.
Other major changes to the spring program include doubling prizemoney for the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m, October 12) to $1 million, and the introduction of the $500,000 Hot Danish Stakes for fillies and mares to be run at Rosehill on November 9 to complement the $1 million Golden Gift for juveniles.
Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Kevin Anderson, said the NSW thoroughbred racing industry is going from strength to strength and rivals that of other racing jurisdictions around the world.
“We hear it time and time again that people want to attend races in NSW, rather than travel to other states, which is why this investment from Racing NSW will be significant for race goers and participants alike,” Anderson said.
“The Everest has been a phenomenon with no other event coming to prominence so quickly. The NSW Government will continue to partner Racing NSW and the ATC to ensure this rapid growth continues. The expanded carnival is accordingly important in the next stage of its growth.”
Racing NSW chairman, Russell Balding, said The Everest has “captured extraordinary interest both inside and outside racing throughout Australia and overseas.”
“The inception of the Golden Eagle and this further strengthening of the racing program during the spring in Sydney continues down that path,’’ Balding said.
“We are confident that the addition of these new races, along with the programming change will ensure that they attract the highest quality horses to compete through the entirety of our Spring carnival and that the racing public will have the opportunity to celebrate and experience Sydney racing at its best.”
ATC chairman Matt McGrath said: “Sydney continues to build its own world class racing Carnival in the spring and these changes further enhance the racing offering as well as delivering fantastic returns to our key stakeholders”.
The carnival will extend deep into the spring with new Saturday stand-alone racedays at Newcastle and Kembla Grange with Racing NSW targeting 20,000-plus crowds at those provincial venues.
The Newcastle meeting scheduled for November 16 will feature the $1 million The Hunter, a quality handicap over 1300m that has the potential to attract Everest runners. The Group 3 Spring Stakes for three-year-olds has been added to the stand-alone meeting, transferred from the Newcastle Gold Cup meeting in September.
Then at Kembla Grange, the $1 million The Gong will also be run under quality handicap conditions over 1600m.
“These new race days will provide the chance for Newcastle and Wollongong to shine as the feature NSW meetings immediately following The Everest Carnival,’’ Balding said.
In a further boost for provincial racing in NSW, the Gosford Gold Cup meeting will join the Hawkesbury Gold Cup as a stand-alone Saturday fixture following the conclusion of the Sydney Autumn Carnival.
The Gosford Gold Cup meeting will be run on May 9, a week after the Hawkesbury stand-alone. The Scone Cup Carnival will be run on May 15-16.
SYDNEY’S SUPER SPRING
- Nine consecutive Sydney Saturdays with at least one race worth $1 million or more each meeting
- Total spring carnival prizemoney exceeding $45 million (up $15 million)
- Sydney’s spring carnival extends into November with Saturday stand-alone meetings at Newcastle and Kembla Grange each boasting $1 million races
- Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes increased to $1 million (from $500,000) and will be supported by the $500,000 Silver Eagle for four-year-olds.
- The inaugural $7.5 million Golden Eagle for four-year-olds will be supported by the $1 million Redzel Stakes over 1300m for the top sprinters and the $500,000 Rosehill Gold Cup over 2000m.
- Introduction of the $500,000 Hot Danish Stakes for fillies and mares to complement the $1 million Golden Gift for two-year-olds.