News

INGLIS ANNOUNCES $2.5 MILLION RACES SERIES

1st Nov 2007

William Inglis & Son Ltd have ensured that owners will have plenty of incentive to buy in 2008 with the announcement of a significantly expanded series of bonuses and graduate races around Australia for yearling graduates.

A total of $2.5 million will be on offer to connections with over 20 races or bonuses available to win. Inglis have been keen to arrange the programming of these races to ensure that there is a race or bonus to be won each month of the season. "The aim is to spread the bonuses out so that trainers can target them when their horse is at its peak and not suffer the misfortune of a setback foiling their aim at one big race," says William Inglis & Son Ltd Managing Director Mark Webster. "The industry has always expressed a need to spread prize money and we felt this was an opportunity to make a difference, rather than put on one or two races that only 16 runners can contest."

The $2.5 million will be split evenly between NSW and Victoria, with $1.25 million available to winners in each state. Bonuses will be available throughout the calendar year for two and three-year-old graduates, and will compliment existing state based bonuses. "There is the very real possibility that an Inglis graduate may pick up a few of these races," Webster suggests, adding, "and that could be quite lucrative, especially on top of BOBS and VOBIS bonuses in addition to the existing race club prize-money on offer."

Bearing in mind metropolitan races in Melbourne and Sydney now have typical purses of $70,000 on a Saturday, victory for a suitably qualified Inglis sale graduate in a bonus race can make for a very handsome return based on a single success. Saturday metropolitan bonuses will be worth $100,000 and bonuses on provincial races will be worth $50,000. For example, if first prize for an eligible Saturday metropolitan race is $40,000, an additional $100,000 will be paid by Inglis if an eligible Inglis graduate wins. Total stakes for the winner of a Saturday race in this instance would be $140,000. This is on par with many Group 2 and 3 races.

The new race bonuses, combined with the existing Inglis Classic and Premier sale races highlights the significant opportunities open to horses sold at Inglis sales.

The bonuses cover the spectrum of racing as well. For example, bonuses will start in January of their juvenile season and finish in December of their three-year-old season. "There'll be opportunities for precocious types as well as for those who may be better placed in their classic season" Webster explains. The stables have not been forgotten either with a $50,000 bonus for the trainer who wins the most races in the Inglis Series.

Bonuses are open to all Inglis yearling graduates nominated for the series, regardless of which sale they were sold at, meaning that Sydney owners can visit Melbourne safe in the knowledge that their new buys will be eligible for the full range of races in New South Wales and vice versa.

The series will culminate in an Inglis Guineas that will be worth a guaranteed $250,000. This could increase further as any surplus funds remaining after all bonuses are run will be fully disbursed in the Inglis Guineas.

"We are committed to adding value to the purchase of horses sold at Inglis sales," Mark Webster asserts, "The $2.5 million in this series of races is ample proof of that and we look forward to sending cheques to as many happy owners as possible."

INGLIS SERIES BREAKDOWN

(To be run from January - December of 2 & 3yo season.)

• 10 x Metropolitan Bonuses of $100,000
• 5 x Country/ Provincials Bonuses of $50,000

• 3 x $250,000 Graduate Only Races
• 2 x $100,000 Graduate Only Races

• 1 x Inglis Guineas (Guaranteed $250,000 minimum)
  (For 3yo to be run in Autumn. All monies paid into the series remaining after all bonus races are run will be disbursed as prizemoney in the Inglis Guineas underwritten by William Inglis & Son for a minimum of $250,000)

• 1 x Trainers Bonus of $50,000