Racing Victoria are set to announce a boost in prizemoney sometime this week.
Racing stood tall as a sport in Victoria during the tough lockdown for the state in 2020 as it continued to run interruption free.
Punters supported the industry terrifically with a 32.6% boost from August 2020 to January 2021 on the same period 12 months earlier. More than $5 billion was wagered on Victorian racing in that time.
Racing.com are reporting that Listed and Stakes races are set to be the best boosted events as well as country racing which thrived during the peak of COVID.
Racing Minister Martin Pakula told Racing.com RV is looking at invest in many other areas as well as prizemoney.
“Turnover has been strong over the last 12 months and that increased turnover gives the industry the opportunity to improve outcomes across the board: better prizemoney for owners, higher returns for jockeys and trainers, more investment in animal welfare outcomes, and, importantly, better employment conditions for industry participants,” he said.
“It’s not about any one thing.”
Any long term changes to prizemoney will be decided at a later date with some key dates in the Spring Carnival still to be decided on.
The Melbourne Racing Club are keen to move their season into November and take advantage of the open space at that time of year.
