Racing NSW Announces $30m Prizemoney Increases & Record Infrastructure Investment
Racing NSW today announced a further $30 million in prizemoney increases along with record investment in infrastructure and an additional share of prizemoney for both equine welfare and stable staff.

As detailed below, these latest prizemoney announcements totalling $30 million will see total prizemoney paid in NSW increase to $358 million per annum. This is an increase of $239 million, or more than triple the prizemoney levels from 2012.

Minimum prizemoney increases

Minimum prizemoney for all levels of Country racing have been increased as follows:

Picnic minimum prizemoney increases from $5,000 to $7,000
Non-TAB minimum prizemoney increases from $10,000 to $12,000
Sky 2 minimum prizemoney increases from $15,000 to $16,000
Country TAB minimum prizemoney increases from $25,000 to $27,000
In addition to the above minimum prizemoney increases, two races at every Country TAB race meeting will now be restricted to NSW Country trained horses only and will carry prizemoney of $30,000. Two races at every Country Showcase meeting will also be restricted to NSW Country trained horses and will carry prizemoney of $35,000. At some meetings this will be increased to three races.

Additional prizemoney will also be offered in the Provincial sector, with two races at each Provincial race meeting carrying prizemoney of $45,000. One of these races will be restricted to Provincial trained horses only and the other will be restricted to Midway trained horses only.

To build on the success of the Highway and Midway races, prizemoney for these races will increase from $100,000 to $120,000 per race at Saturday Metropolitan race meetings.

Spring feature race increases

In addition to the above minimum prizemoney increases, a number of feature races in spring have also received increases in prizemoney as follows:

The Concorde Stakes will increase from $160,000 to $500,000
The Shorts will increase from $500,000 to $1 million
The Premiere Stakes will increase from $500,000 to $1 million
The Kosciuszko will increase from $1.3 million to $2 million
The Sydney Stakes will increase from $500,000 to $2 million
The Nature Strip stakes will increase from $1 million to $3 million
There will also be two new races added to the spring carnival. A $1 million race will be added to Everest Day, called the Five Diamond Prelude, over 1500m for 5yos only, providing a lead up for the Five Diamonds.

Also, a new $500,000 race will be added to Big Dance Day, called the Little Dance, for those horses eligible, but unable to gain a start in The Big Dance.

New $6 million Sportsbet Sydney Sprint Series bonus

The Everest is the feature of the NSW Spring Racing Carnival and the popularity of The Everest has quickly seen the surrounding sprint races develop significant interest and betting turnover.

To further grow these sprint races across spring, a new $6 million bonus fully sponsored by Sportsbet will be paid to the horses winning the most points across the following six races. These races will be known as the Sportsbet Sydney Sprint Series:

Race Name Date Track Distance
Concorde Stakes 3 Sep 22 Randwick 1000m
The Shorts 17 Sep 22 Randwick 1100m
Premiere Stakes 1 Oct 22 Randwick 1200m
The Everest 15 Oct 22 Randwick 1200m
Sydney Stakes 15 Oct 22 Randwick 1200m
Nature Strip Stakes 29 Oct 22 Randwick 1300m
Points will be awarded based on 5 points for 1st, 4 points for 2nd, 3 points for 3rd, 2 points for 4th and 1 point for 5th in each of the first 5 races. Double points will be awarded for the Nature Strip Stakes on Golden Eagle Day. It will also be a condition of the bonus that horses must have competed in at least 3 races in the series to be eligible.