SYDNEY HORSE RACING SPRING CARNIVAL ENHANCED

Feature races during Sydney’s spring carnival will carry additional prizemoney and new races have been created as Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club (ATC) announced a myriad of changes on Monday afternoon.

There will be at least one seven-figure thoroughbred race each Saturday over nine weekends in New South Wales, starting September 28 and ending on November 23.

The additional races announced on Monday bolsters feature races which were created last December – the $7.5m Golden Eagle (1500m) for four-year-olds and $1m Bondi Stakes (1600m) for three-year-olds.

The $500,000 Silver Eagle (1300m), for four-year-olds, has been added to Spring Champion Stakes day at Randwick on October 12.

The Golden Eagle meeting will be supported by two newly created races – the $1m Winners Stakes (1300m), held under set-weights and penalty conditions and the $500,000 Rosehill Gold Cup (2000m).

A half-million bonus is attached to the Rosehill Gold Cup for any horse that wins the race after having won either the G1 $750,000 The Metropolitan (2400m) or G2 $500,000 Hill Stakes (2000m) on October 5, and either the G3 $500,000 Craven Plate (2000m) or $500,000 Sydney St Leger (2600m) on October 12.

The Winners Stakes will be renamed each year in honour of the previous year’s winner of The Everest and therefore will be known as the Redzel Stakes in 2019.

The Golden Gift meeting at Rosehill on November 9 will host the $500,000 Hot Danish Stakes (1400m) at set-weights for fillies and mares.

Racing NSW also announced an extension of metropolitan meetings being held outside the Sydney area.

Newcastle and Kembla Grange will stage Saturday meetings towards in November which will feature $1m quality handicaps.

Aside from spreading the reach of racing to New South Wales’s two biggest provincial centres, those meetings will allow Randwick and Rosehill much needed rest after a hectic schedule.

SYDNEY’S SEVEN-FIGURE SPRING RACES

Saturday, September 28 @ Rosehill
$1m G1 Golden Rose Stakes (1400m)

Saturday, October 5 @ Randwick
$1m G1 Epsom Handicap (1600m)

Saturday, October 12 @ Randwick
$1m G1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m)

Saturday, October 19 @ Randwick
$14m The Everest (1200m)
$1.3m Kosciuszko (1200m)

Saturday, October 26 @ Randwick
$1m Bondi Stakes (1600m)

Saturday, November 2 @ Rosehill
$7.5m Golden Eagle (1500m)
$1m Winners Stakes (1300m)

Saturday, November 9 @ Rosehill
$1m Golden Gift (1100m)

Saturday, November 16 @ Newcastle
$1m The Hunter (1300m)

Saturday, November 23 @ Kembla Grange
$1m The Gong (1600m)

From last Saturday’s meeting at Rosehill on June 1 to the Golden Gift meeting at the same venue on November 9, Randwick will host 12 Saturday meetings while Rosehill will stage 11. The only alternative venue during that period is the August 17 meeting on Randwick’s inner Kensington track.

Gosford will also host a metropolitan Saturday meeting during the autumn period on a yet to be specified date but it’s believed it will be scheduled in close vicinity to existing ‘stand-alone’ race days at Hawkesbury and Scone.

The significant injection of prizemoney and spread to provincial areas isn’t just good news for participants but also Racing NSW. Having at least one race worth $1m on the card triggers the next level of race fields legislation fees, meaning an estimated extra 20 per cent in wagering revenue.

Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Kevin Anderson MP, 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 New South Wales, 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 in a statement.

“The Everest has been a phenomenon with no other event coming to prominence so quickly. The NSW Government in partnership with Racing NSW and the ATC want to see this rapid growth continue and the expanded carnival is important in the next stage of its growth.”

Meanwhile, Racing NSW Chairman Mr Russell Balding AO believes the Winners Stakes and Silver Eagle will further strengthen Sydney’s racing program during the spring.

“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,” Balding said.

By Carl Di Iorio    @CDi_Iorio

Source:  https://www.racing.com/news/2019-06-03/news-sydney-spring-announcement

3 June, 2019