Ladbrokes Summer Racing Festival to feature exciting lineup of races with massive $2.9m prize pool
Tasmania’s racing boss says there’s plenty of reasons to add the state’s big race days to your summer social calendar. Here’s why.
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A prize pool of $2.9m is up for grabs in the 2024/25 Ladbrokes Summer Racing Festival with twenty feature races to be run across the three codes of racing.
Tasmania’s country cousins are included in the festival, with a further $500,000 on offer in harness and thoroughbred country cups in regional parts of the state.
The summer festivities started with the running of the $150,000 Newmarket for thoroughbreds over 1200-metres in Launceston last week and will finish with the $250,000 Launceston Cup on February 26.
The festival includes the Ladbrokes Hobart and Devonport Cups for thoroughbreds, The Chase, the Ladbrokes Hobart Thousand and the Ladbrokes Launceston Cup for greyhounds, and The Golden Apple and the Hobart and Devonport Cups for harness.
Tasracing CEO Andrew Jenkins said all parts of the state would feature in the festival.
“They include Group race days in our cities and country race days on King Island, and at Longford, St Marys, Scottsdale and Burnie,” he said.
“It is important that at a time when we are promoting Tasmanian racing to a national audience that we position ourselves as a statewide industry, benefiting regional economies as much as the economies of the major population centres.”
Mr Jenkins said race days were great additions to the social calendars and encouraged people to get trackside to soak up the action and atmosphere.
“We want to highlight Tasmania as an attractive racing destination for groups and focus on the entertainment aspect of our events,” he said.
The Size and Scope of the Tasmanian Racing Industry report found that the Tasmanian racing industry generated total direct spending of $189.6m in Tasmania in 2021/22, with flow-on effects increasing the size of the value-added economic contribution to close to $208m.
The report also found that the total expenditure generated by racing customers was $12.2m, excluding wagering, and $8.3m of that amount was generated off-course.
Mr Jenkins said this was heavily driven by feature race meetings where the links to fashion and retail, as well as larger travel distances for those attending the races, drove spending in the community.
“Small businesses are benefiting from their involvement across the Tasmanian racing industry,” he said.
“For example, annual events like the Ladbrokes Summer Racing Festival make essential use of local contractors and companies, which adds to increasing enjoyment of the events for the crowds as well as providing employment for locals.”
Other key racing elements of the festival included the Ladbrokes $150,000 Double Cup Connections Bonus for thoroughbreds and The Ladbrokes $100,000 Triple Treat Connections Bonus for greyhounds.
The Ladbrokes Double Cup Bonus, payable to the owner/trainer of any horse that wins the
Ladbrokes Hobart and Launceston Cups in the same year, has been increased to $150,000.
The Ladbrokes Triple Treat Connections Bonus will see a $100,000 bonus paid to the owner/trainer of any greyhound that can win the finals of The Chase (January 16), the Ladbrokes Hobart Thousand (December 12) and the Ladbrokes Launceston Cup (February 3).
If one greyhound wins two of the eligible races but fails to win all three, a $25,000 bonus will be paid to the owner/trainer.
The festival also includes the Ladbrokes Community Sports Series.
Local sporting and community clubs will be invited to enter a draw to be selected to have a horse running in their name on each of the three thoroughbred cup race days.
The total prize pool for each race will be $25,000, with the winning club receiving $10,000.
Mr Jenkins said the initiative provided sporting and community clubs that often survive on volunteers, the opportunity to win $10.000 if their horse won, which could make a real difference to smaller clubs.
Originally published as Ladbrokes Summer Racing Festival to feature exciting lineup of races with massive $2.9m prize pool
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