It was early January when Racing NSW hinted at significant changes to both its calendar and prizemoney schedules, and this week the details dropped from Chairman Russell Balding, with a $20 million overall injection to prizemoney the major headline.
The G1 Epsom H. purse jumped by $500,000, along with a million-dollar bonus for any horse able to complete the G3 Craven Plate-Rosehill Gold Cup double. Additionally, country prizemoney leaped by $9 million, effective across all sectors of country racing, including picnic and non-TAB meetings.
It was yet another commitment by Racing NSW to share the spoils of a profitable industry. In July 2019, its investment into country racing saw the sector’s prizemoney balloon by $81 million, this outside of the 2015 creation of the Country Championships.
“These increases broaden the spread of prizemoney and further improve the dividends back to our owners and participants,” Balding said. NSW Minister for Racing, Kevin Anderson, added that continuing increases such as these were critical to the grassroots of racing.
Points to Midway
While metropolitan meetings were also a lucky recipient of this week’s news, with races like the G2 Villiers S. and G1 Flight S. receiving purse injections, the more interesting change announced was the concept of the Midway Races. These will add a race to the Saturday metropolitan race card, but it will be a race restricted to small city and provincial-stables, who will qualify for it on a points system.
Racing NSW said it was still working on the finite details of the Midway Races, but they will commence on July 1. Chief Executive Peter V’landys explained that the races will operate on a points system of 100, accrued by wins the season before. Certain race wins will be worth a certain number of points and, if a stable fails to reach 100 points on this system, it will qualify for a Midway Race in town.
“Less than 100 points in a season will make you eligible for this race,” V’landys said. “We consulted all our participant groups and they are all in favour of it, and the idea actually came from the trainers. It was Richard Freedman who put this to me some years ago, to look at why the country has its specialised race, the Highway Race, but smaller city and provincial trainers didn’t get that opportunity every week. And now there will be a $100,000 race each week for those horses.”
“It was Richard Freedman who put this to me some years ago, to look at why the country has its specialised race, the Highway Race, but smaller city and provincial trainers didn’t get that opportunity every week.” - Peter V’landys
In the coming months, Racing NSW will work out which races on its calendar are worth what. Metropolitan wins, provincial wins and country wins will accrue different points, as will Group and Listed wins. V’landys said the hosting of the Midway Race on a Saturday would generate the most turnover for the sport.
“It’s the premium day to race,” he said. “So naturally putting 10 races on a Saturday is better than putting any other race on during the week. And I think it will generate significant turnover, as the Highway did.”
Peter V'landys
Levelling the playing field
Warwick Farm trainer Gabrielle Engelbrecht is one such operation that will benefit nicely from the introduction of the Midway Races. Engelbrecht has just seven horses in work from her small yard, calling herself a “micro stable”, and said her biggest hurdle is getting results over the larger yards.
“Large stables have more darts to throw at the board,” she said. “They get more runners so they get more winners, and they then get access to training better-quality horses. They therefore have more opportunities to attack those bigger, Saturday-class races. When you’ve got seven in work, you’ve got limited opportunity with those horses you have that aren’t quite up to Saturday level.”
Engelbrecht is happy with her micro yard. She offers a very hands-on service, and said she could close her eyes and know each of her horses by touch. It’s a consequence of small numbers, and admits that she is lucky to have, among her small lot, horses worth $100,000 or more. She added that not all small-string trainers are that fortunate.
Gabrielle Engelbrecht | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Among Engelbrecht’s horses is the French import Lamu (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). The mare was picked up from the 2019 Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale for €280,000 (AU$427,724) and has had 14 starts in Australia. She was black type-placed in France and, while Engelbrecht has had her only a short time, the trainer said she is very hard to place.
“It’s rare that a small trainer would have a horse of her pedigree and quality,” Engelbrecht said. “She had good form as a young horse in France, and she’s got a reasonably high benchmark. But I’m having to run her against young, progressive horses in metropolitan company.”
The perfect candidate
Five-year-old Lamu isn’t far from retirement, and Engelbrecht said she would hope to get some city-class into the mare before she heads to the breeding shed. But it’s been difficult. Lamu has been fifth and sixth for Engelbrecht in two starts at Rosehill and Kensington in BM78 races.
On Saturday, she will line up in the 2000 metre Heineken H. at Randwick. But the trainer said the bulk of horses in the field are stakes-race nominated, so it will be tough for Lamu. The Midway Races, on the other hand, are just the ticket for a horse like her.
“She would be ideal for the Midway Races. It would give my clients the opportunity to get a metropolitan win out of her before she goes to stud.” - Gabrielle Engelbrecht
“She would be ideal for the Midway Races,” Engelbrecht said. “It would give my clients the opportunity to get a metropolitan win out of her before she goes to stud. Lamu is up to metropolitan level, but she’s at the back end of her career. I would love to get a result for my clients with her without coming up against young, progressing horses that are on their way to stakes races.”
Flow-on effects
As with the Country Championships and Highway Races, which have breathed a second life into the city racing scene, the Midway Races have the potential to energise Sydney’s Saturday meetings. V’landys said the Highway Races have generated significant turnover since their inception, despite initial cynicism from industry participants, and the flow-on effects will be felt.
“Even if we only get one or two city winners a year,” Engelbrecht said, “that’s still a big deal to us very small stables because it gives our clients a reason to keep supporting us. You have to remember that not everyone is suited to a big stable, be that a client or a trainer. I love having a small stable, but your opportunities to win the bigger races are limited, so this will really help.”
