News

NSW, Vic and Qld all feature in early $5m Xtra Bonus Maidens

21st Jun 2024

The first five races of the inaugural $5m Inglis Xtra Bonus Maiden Series have been finalised.

The series will see 50 Maidens be incentivised with a $100,000 bonus to the winner.

Connections of a winner of a designated Maiden will receive the $100,000 bonus if the horse is an Inglis graduate from 2023 and beyond and paid up for the Inglis Race Series.

The first five Maidens are:

*Friday August 2 at Coffs Harbour, NSW (Super Maiden Showcase Hcp, 1000m)

*Sunday August 11 at Sunshine Coast, QLD (3YO Maiden, 1000m)

*Wednesday August 14 at Randwick Kensington, NSW (3YO Fillies Maiden Hcp, 1150m)

*Thursday August 22 at Sale, VIC (3YO Maiden, 1100m)

*Friday August 30 at Scone, NSW (Maiden Hcp, 1300m)

Further details of designated Xtra Bonus Maidens will be released in due course.

Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch is looking forward to seeing the bonuses being won by as many sets of connections as possible.

“Through the Inglis Race Series, we wanted to create an opportunity for more people to win more prizemoney more often and the Xtra Bonus Series allows for exactly that,” Hutch said.

“Races like the Inglis Millennium and the Inglis Sprint take owners to Royal Randwick and Flemington, amongst the best racetracks in the world, while the $1m Inglis Pink Bonus is the world’s most lucrative female ownership incentive scheme, but the Xtra Bonus allows us to do even more for owners of Inglis graduates.

“The hardest race for a horse to win is their Maiden, so we wanted to give every buyer and owner of an Inglis graduate the opportunity to win extraordinary prizemoney at the entry level of racing.

“There will effectively be one Maiden a week on average, at different venues, over different distances ranging from 900m-2000m, giving so many of our clients regular chances to win significant money.

“If you look at the opening race as an example, the Super Maiden Showcase Handicap on Coffs Harbour Cup Day in six weeks, if the winner of that race meets the criteria of the Inglis Xtra Bonus Maiden Series, the winning prizemoney will be boosted to $122,000. That’s more than the winning purse for most races, so it really does represent an incredible opportunity for owners with Inglis Race Series-eligible horses.

“To put it into further context, only 2% of races run in Australia this season saw the winners take home $100,000 or more, so it’s an enormous carrot for owners of eligible horses and we expect the designated Maidens to be targeted and bonuses to be won regularly through the 2024/25 season and beyond.’’