Following a successful Spring Carnival, Racing NSW has introduced a $500,000 prizemoney increase to The Golden Eagle. This now takes the prizemoney for the 1500m race for four-year-olds to $8,000,000, surpassing the Melbourne Cup for the second-most expensive race in Australia, behind The Everest.
However, this decision has been met with outcry throughout the racing social media world, with many believing that this is just another attempt to out-do Melbourne’s Spring Carnival and Melbourne Cup week. With The Golden Eagle falling on Derby Day, with Flemington hosting four Group Ones on the day, there has always been a sense of competition to attract the biggest horses to each state, with this extra prizemoney an attempt to attract eyes, fans and horses to Sydney.
When the govt mishandles money, we can ask questions. What happens when a racing body mishandles money? https://t.co/Wz5GNk1NvL
— David O’Driscoll (@dave3004) November 9, 2021
The downfall of this, is that country Sydney racing has been asking for more funds to better support their race days, horses, trainers and owners, yet Racing NSW continues to introduce Metro pop-up races to compete with Melbourne’s Spring Carnival. It makes you think whether the goal is to have a sustainable racing program or to throw more money at big metro races to out-do their southern counterparts.
Will the racing bodies ever consider the horses, trainers and punters, having some cohesion with their decision making? Or will they continue to try and out-do each other with no regard for others around them?
It’s not about going up it’s about the distribution Country meeting need prize money boost not fattening the overweight pig
— Terry Zarsoff (@Terryzarsoff) November 9, 2021
