Cup cash increase

PRIZE money for this year’s Ballarat Cup Day race meeting has been more than doubled.

The announcement, made this morning by the Ballarat Turf Club, will see the prize pool increased to just over $1.8 million, with the main race, the Sportsbet Ballarat Cup offering $500,000.

“We are absolutely thrilled to confirm this remarkable increase in prize money for Sportsbet Ballarat Cup Day,” said BTC CEO Lachlan McKenzie.

“This is an enormous boost for our big day, and will ensure the very best horses, jockeys and trainers will come to Ballarat to compete for the riches on offer.”

The additional funds mean that the Ballarat Cup meeting will now be the richest race day meeting ever held in Victoria.

“We are extremely fortunate to be able to conduct the highest prize money regional race day ever in this state. I cannot thank the State government, Racing Victoria, Country Racing Victoria and Magic Millions enough for making this possible,” Mr McKenzie said.

Other prize money increased for the meeting’s card include the Victorian horse only event – the VOBIS Gold Eureka up to $175,000, the 1200m Open Handicap to $150,000 and the Magic Millions Clockwise Classic for two-year olds raised to $250,000.

“Magic Millions is a fixture on Ballarat Cup Day. It’s been a privilege to be part of the evolution of this race meeting over our seven-year partnership with the Ballarat Turf Club,” said Magic Millions’ Managing Director Barry Bowdich.

“Enabling returns to industry participants is significantly important to us and we are committed for the long-term to support racing in Victoria with our investment in these two feature races.”

This year’s Ballarat Cup Day is set for Saturday, 23 November. No other metropolitan meetings are scheduled for the day. A move that’s also aimed at increasing the quality of the fields.