Moonee Valley disgruntled at prizemoney snubbing

The Valley
Moonee Valley has lost out on what could have been some game-changing prizemoney allocations from Racing Victoria

RACING Victoria announced a $15.5 million prizemoney boost earlier this week, but popular racetrack Moonee Valley received very little funding which has its chiefs angry.

Valley bosses are disgruntled that the likes of Flemington and Caulfield received significant prizemoney boosts, but Moonee Valley’s main features, which includes the Group 1 Cox Plate, got ignored.

“Apart from $50,000 for the Moir Stakes and the William Reid Stakes, Moonee Valley has been completely missed out,” the course’s chief executive, Michael Browell said.

“It’s fantastic for Victorian owners who race horses at Caulfield, Flemington or in the country, but there is not much in it to encourage owners and trainers to aim for races at the Valley.”

Browell and his fellow officials have called a meeting with Racing Victoria to discuss an urgent review of the prizemoney allocation.

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“I am meeting with Giles Thompson (the new CEO of Racing Victoria) on Tuesday morning. We have already contacted them to say they should urgently review prizemoney levels for our standard Friday night meetings in the wake of these other changes,” Browell said.

“It is very hard to attract horses to those meetings if we are offering only half the prizemoney available on a Saturday.

“Our wagering levels on Friday nights are up 9 per cent this year but with these changes Racing Victoria is placing us at a real competitive disadvantage.”

The Caulfield Stakes and the Memsie Stakes have been raised to $1 million, with many saying in the hopes to draw the Chris Waller-trained Winx back into town.

The Caulfield Guineas has been given a $1 million boost, but the Cox Plate has been left untouched and considering the prizemoney on offer during The Championships, which created very little international interest, Moonee Valley was expecting some help for the internationally-renowned Cox Plate.

“We don’t have an issue with the stakes lift for these other races, but we think our main races should have also enjoyed an increase for parity’s sake,” Browell said.

“Last year we asked for Racing Victoria to lift the prizemoney for the Cox Plate to match that of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in Sydney and they didn’t do that – despite the fact that in the last racing season official ratings had the Cox Plate as the number one-ranked turf race in the world.

“In the light of the way Racing Victoria have acted to increase prizemoney significantly Moonee Valley looks forward to the ongoing negotiations regarding the club funding model.”

Increasing prizemoney doesn’t directly translate into making the race more appealing for punters, but it does create interest for trainers and owners.

We believe the current $3 million on offer for the Cox Plate is more than enough to entice the world’s best competition, but when races such as the Queen Elizabeth are running for $4 million, the prizemoney allocation in Victoria needs some tinkering.

Moonee Valley is quickly falling into the “night only” racetrack, which would be a shame for a club which has had some memorable day meetings in the past, which includes Cox Plate day.

Receiving more funds for its big races would ensure the club is heading in the right direction and that Valley fans get to see the best thoroughbreds in action.

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