All racing participants will benefit from a $24 million increase in NSW prize money to be distributed among metropolitan, provincial and country areas.
Racing NSW chairman Russell Balding announced the raft of increases on Wednesday which will come into effect from September 1.
The majority of the prize money will be for horses finishing fourth to 10th, bolstering returns for owners.
Jockeys will also share in the money paid for those unplaced horses with the rider of a horse finishing 10th in a Saturday metropolitan race to get an extra $75.
To improve the cash flow for trainers, part of the increased prize money paid for horses finishing fourth to 10th will be paid by Racing NSW directly to the trainer, with these amounts to be credited as a prepayment to the owners’ accounts.
Racing NSW says this will provide a $13.1 million improvement to trainers’ cash flows.
Two of the races at The Championships, the Percy Sykes Stakes and Arrowfield Sprint, will now be worth $1 million each, meaning all 10 Championship races will be worth a minimum of $1 million.
“Increases in wagering tax parity receipts with the further phase-in of parity from July 2018 and strong race fields fees revenue has enabled the Board of Racing NSW to deliver these prize money increases which are geared to boost participation in thoroughbred racing throughout NSW,” Balding said.
| Race Type | Current Minimum | Minimum Prizemoney from 1 September 2018 |
% Increase |
| Metropolitan Saturdays | $100,000 | $125,000 | 25.0% |
| Metropolitan Midweek | $40,000 | $50,000 | 25.0% |
| Metropolitan Public Holiday | $50,000 | $60,000 | 20.0% |
| TAB Highways | $60,000 | $75,000 | 25.0% |
| Provincial | $30,000 | $35,000 | 16.7% |
| Country TAB | $20,000 | $22,000 | 10.0% |
