There has been much fanfare around a new deal for trainers and owners in KZN since January 2025. Let's take a closer look at the new arrangement and see if it has a material affect in terms of Rands and cents in the pocket of the owners.

The sample set used are the final two months of the old deal vs the first two months of the new deal. That being November and December of 2024 vs January and February of 2025. These new year Stakes distribution are the only ones released at this stage.

There have been significant changes to the program but less racing for the same/similar stake with radical redistribution of funds for each race type. The total number of races in Nov and Dec was 72 races spread across 9 meetings. The Jan and Feb 2025 brings less racing with only 62 races scheduled for Jan across 7 meetings whilst Feb has just 64 races across 7 meetings. This means that the stakes for individual races has gone up but the stakes pot has remained more or less the same. The punter gets less races to bet on with bigger field sizes by default due to the lesser number of fixtures for the same total purse. Horses will draw wider in general due to higher field sizes. This is particularly significant at Greyville.

Hence it looks like a higher purse per race but the distribution will likely be very different in owners pockets. There is also a matter of the Race Coastal initiative of 5% taken directly out of Stakes pot to provide for incentives. (Eg Maiden for R120k will be worth 5% less on stakes distribution post race, now R114k). The total stakes distribution means the same stake will be distributed differently but amount to the same total payouts less that 5% initiative. 

Basically the operator has shuffled the deck but the pot is the same, at this stage anyway. There should be a standard upgrade in stakes in season, like there has been in the past. Rand for rand time will tell if the stakes pot gets a significant boost as compared to the previous Kzn feature season.

The total stakes in Nov 2024 was R6 570 000 whilst in Dec 2024 it was R6 890 000.

In January 2025 it was R6 845 000 and for February 2025 R7 090 000.

Kzn Stakes Distribution
All races are subject to 5% incentive scheme

Jan Stakes 2025 per meeting in Rands: Total and number of races per meeting in brackets.

770 000 (8)
910 000 (8)
865 000 (9)
1 450 000 (10)
1 225 000 (10)
680 000 (8)
945 000 (9)
Total 6 845 000
Total races 62
Total meetings 7

Feb 2025
1 255 000 (10)
735 000 (8)
1 090 000 (9)
730 000 (8)
1 255 000 (10)
1 035 000 (9)
990 000 (10)
Total 7 090 000
Total Races 64
Total meetings 7

2024 Dec (all meetings had 8 races)
840 000
750 000
720 000
720 000
750 000
720 000
720 000
890 000
780 000

Total 6 890 000
Total races 72
Total meetings 9

2024 Nov (all meetings had 8 races)
720 000
780 000
720 000
750 000
720 000
720 000
720 000
720 000
720 000
Total 6 570 000
Total Races 72
Total meetings 9