News

AJC raises prizemoney for top races

2nd Aug 2010

Sydney Morning Herald - Craig Young - Monday, 2 August 2010

THE Australian Jockey Club yesterday announced prizemoney increases worth $3.6 million for the new racing season, with the Doncaster Mile and Australian Derby boosted by a total of $700,000.

The Doncaster will again be worth $2m after the AJC downgraded it to $1.5m last year when a financial loss resulted in the slashing of AJC feature-race prizemoney across the board.

"This race [Doncaster] has great potential to be an international race and attract the best milers from Hong Kong, Singapore and perhaps wider afield. I'd like to see this strategy pursued in the near future," AJC chairman Ron Finemore said.

Another $200,000 will be added to the derby purse, bringing it to $1.5m, with $500,000 injected into the TJ Smith Stakes, which the AJC is billing as Australian racing's ''top sprint race''.

The TJ Smith will now be worth $1m, and the winner of the autumn weight-for-age race will qualify for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in the US.

Finemore ''expressed thanks to Racing NSW for its support'' in releasing the funds in a bid to shore up the industry.

Approval for the prizemoney increases was granted last Friday when the AJC board met.

"After a tough financial year, in which we were forced to cut prizemoney, the AJC is delighted to announce these increases," Finemore said. "This will mean we can run stronger autumn and spring carnivals."

The AJC Australian Oaks rises by $200,000 to $550,000, with the All Aged Stakes and Sires' Produce up by the same sum to $500,000, while the Epsom Handicap is worth the same amount, thanks an increase of $150,000.

Finemore said ''every aspect of the AJC's business continued to be under scrutiny'', but its commitment to prizemoney was clear, with the possibility of further increases following the planned merger of the AJC and STC.