Chairman’s Message to Industry - NSW Prizemoney Increases

26 November 2021

 

Effective 1 January 2022

 

Dear Participant,

I am pleased to advise that the Board of Harness Racing NSW has resolved to bring forward by twelve months the guaranteed base prizemoney increase scheduled for 1 January 2023.

In addition thereto not only will the prizemoney signalled in the Industry Strategic Plan for ‘A’ Category Meeting races be delivered early to participants but in-line with the decision taken subsequent to the guarantee announcement in 2020 prizemoney for the ‘B’ Category Meeting races will also be lifted.

  • From 1 January 2022 ‘A’ Category Meeting races will carry prizemoney of $8,800; and
  • From 1 January 2022 ‘B’ Category Meeting races will carry prizemoney of $6,800.

In effect in a period of 12 months NSW base prizemoney has increased from $6,500 to $8,800 for ‘A’ Category races and for ‘B’ Category races from $6,000 to $6,800.

Prizemoney will be advertised as $8,976 (A Category) and $6,936 (B Category) through the use of the ‘10th horse’ fund as HRNSW distributes 102% of the prizemoney.

Overall for the three year period of the Strategic Plan the increases represent and injection of an additional $16.1Million in base prizemoney.

Harness Racing NSW has followed the recommendation of the Harness Racing Clubs Committee in that the differential in prizemoney levels between the meeting categories should be maintained. It must be noted however that 60% of the meetings scheduled in NSW are ‘A’ Category.

Further the base prizemoney increases remain within the National Ratings Points Matrix of 4 rating points for ‘A’ and 3 rating points for ‘B’ Category Meetings.

Whilst NSW conducts the only $1Million harness race in Australasia, the Garrard’s Miracle Mile, HRNSW has a continued focus on prizemoney at the grass-roots level so as to provide a vital platform for industry sustainability. Increasing base prizemoney permits a broader spread of returns to all participants including owners, trainers and drivers alike.

Yours faithfully,

 

Ken Brown AM

Chairman