VRC alters Patinack Classic bonus scheme

By LRN Staff

Australian sprinters, including unbeaten champion Black Caviar, are now eligible for a $600,000 bonus if they can win the Patinack Farm Classic and an overseas Global Sprint Challenge race before the end of next season.The Victoria Racing Club had originally made the offer available to the winner of any one of the seven international legs of the Global Sprint Challenge (GSC) in the 13 months leading into the Classic.This meant that Singapore star Rocket Man was the only horse eligible and exclud

The Victoria Racing Club had originally made the offer available to the winner of any one of the seven international legs of the Global Sprint Challenge (GSC) in the 13 months leading into the Classic.

This meant that Singapore star Rocket Man was the only horse eligible and excluded Black Caviar and other Australian sprinters.

But it will now also include the six subsequent international legs of the GSC run after the $1 million Patinack Farm Classic in November through to July 31 of the following year.

If the 2011 Patinack Farm Classic is won by a pre-race qualified horse, the bonus would be immediately payable.

However, should the winner not be pre-race qualified, it will have the opportunity to qualify for the bonus by winning in Hong Kong in December, Japan in March, Singapore in May or one of the three legs in the UK in June and July.

In the event that one horse wins the 2011 Patinack Farm Classic, an international GSC race prior to July 31, 2012 and the 2012 Patinack Farm Classic, it will win two bonuses totalling $1.2 million.

The bonus has been put on a three-year trial period by the VRC which anticipates that the extension of the available timeframe will make the bonus more likely to be won.

"There has been much discussion regarding the Patinack Farm Classic bonus since it was first announced by the VRC and it has provided us with an opportunity to revisit the principles on which the bonus was first determined," VRC chief executive Dale Monteith said.

"This has enabled us, with some increased financial exposure, to provide a structure that we believe gives the best possible chance of attracting international sprinters to Flemington's Melbourne Cup Carnival and to also encourage Australian horses toprove themselves on the world stage."