The Ballarat & District Trotting Club has announced Stakemoney increases to a level unmatched by any other Club in the State and possibly Australia. The increase in stakes relate to a number of feature events to be held at Bray Raceway in the coming season. The Club has budgeted to give away in excess of $320,000 in stakemoney in the coming season, which is an injection of an extra $95,000 from the previous year.
The Club’s flagship event, the Petstock Ballarat Pacing Cup to be held on Saturday 25th January 2014, will see its prizemoney increase by $25,000 to a record $175,000. The Ballarat Pacing Cup is the richest regional event held in Australia with an honour roll the envy of all Clubs around the nation.
Another feature race to receive a boost is the Laser Electrical Lightning Mile which will now carry prizemoney of $30,000, plus $10,000 if the winner breaks the Club’s track record of 1.54.9 and an additional $10,000 if the winner breaks the Victorian Mile record of 1.51.1 The Lightning Mile will now be scheduled for Boxing Night, a very popular race night for the Club.
The time honoured John Slack Memorial Trotters Cup will now carry stakes of $30,000, an increase of $10,000 and will be run under Free For All conditions.
The Club has also commissioned a new feature 2 year old event, which is yet to be named. The Club has targeted a space on the feature race calendar for 2 year olds, which will be positioned between the Vicbred and Breeders Crown futurity series. This event will carry prizemoney of $20,000.
Another success story for the Club is the Win Bonus Scheme which has given owners over $113, 000 in additional prizemoney over the past 3 racing seasons. The bonus scheme is set to continue in 2013-2014 and is always targeted by astute trainers and owners trying to maximize prizemoney for their country wins.
Trotting Club President Mr. Greg Moy said:-
“The increased prizemoney our Club will be offering in the coming season has been made possible by the hard work of the Club’s Committee of Management, who all work tirelessly in promoting the Club’s facilities to ensure all its racemeetings are well patronized.
The Ballarat Club has for many years been the leader in the provision of stakes to industry participants and its main aim is always to be in a position to provide the highest level of stakemoney possible. The Petstock Ballarat Pacing Cup has long been renowned as the best Country Cup in Australasia and we are pleased to be able to be in a position to ensure that again our Cup will attract the highest calibre of horses possible to Bray Raceway.”
Mr Moy also expressed his delight that the Club is able to increase stakes on the majority of its other feature races in 2014, which provides increases across a wide variety of age groups of horses.
HRV CEO Mr. John Anderson was buoyed by the Ballarat Committee’s decision:-
“The Ballarat Club works hard to maximise revenue from its racing and entertainment activities. I think it is a credit to the BDTC Committee that they are prepared to invest surplus funds into increased stakes for the industry participants. I particularly like the strategic spread of the allocation of stakes across classes, age groups and gender.
The Club’s announcement will complement HRV’s pending announcement in mid-July following the Board’s approval of the 2013/14 season budget,” Anderson said.
A full list of feature races to be conducted by the Ballarat & District Trotting Club Inc. in
2013-2014 are as follows:-
2013
November: Friday 29th
$10,000 Eureka Cup
December: Thursday 26th
$30,000 Laser Electrical Lightning Mile
- Plus $10,000 if winner breaks Club track record of 1.54.9
- Plus $10,000 if winner breaks Victorian track record of 1.51.1
$10,000 VHRSC Snowball Series
2014
January: Saturday 25th
$175,000 Petstock Ballarat Pacing Cup
February: Friday 14th
$20,000 A.J. Prendergast Memorial Oaks Trial
$30, 000 Tontine Pacers Final *Hosted
$20, 000 Tontine Trotters Final *Hosted
May: Saturday 10th
$20,000 C & H Holloway 3 year old Classic
Saturday 31st
$30,000 John Slack Memorial Trotters Cup FFA
$20,000 2 year old Feature (Yet to be named)
*Hosted on behalf of Harness Racing Victoria and the Clubs of the former South West Zone (Ararat, Hamilton, Horsham, Geelong, Stawell & Terang)
Further information:
Paul Rowse – CEO Ballarat & District Trotting Club – 5335 9041
