Prizemoney increases for New South Wales

Dear Participant,

As advised in the forward to the 2021-2023 Industry Strategic Plan “Harness The Passion” a key pillar is to sustain the industry. In that forward it was made clear that guaranteed annual increases in prizemoney by Harness Racing NSW were a cornerstone of the Three Year Prizemoney Strategy.
Further, I indicated that annual increases in base prizemoney would be subject to regular review and in that context it is with great pleasure that I can announce that as from 1 July 2021 both A and B Category Meeting prizemoney will increase.

• From 1 July A Category Meeting races will carry prizemoney of $8,400; and
• From 1 July B Category Meeting races will carry prizemoney of $6,400.

Harness Racing NSW has taken into consideration the position of the Harness Racing Clubs Committee that a reasonable difference in prizemoney levels is required while at the same time recognising that a differential should be maintained not expanded.
Further, because of Harness Racing NSW’s endeavours at the national level, the National Ratings Points Matrix has now been changed and base prizemoney races conducted at the B Category Meetings will still only attract 3 rating points.
These improved measures of increased prizemoney, the retention of a reasonable prizemoney differential between the categories of meetings and the status quo in the ratings points are all wins for NSW participants.
In lifting the prizemoney, Harness Racing NSW has also recognised the anomaly in the distribution and restored the winner’s share of prizemoney to 54%.
This 54% return to the connections of the winner has been accomplished through the use of the ‘10th horse’ fund as Harness Racing NSW distributes 102% of the prizemoney. No other controlling body distributes above 100%.
Prizemoney will therefore be advertised as $8,568 (A Category) and $6,528 (B Category) which represents increases of 7.1% and 8.8% respectively on the current prizemoney levels. The total additional injection amounts to $1.2M above the FY22 budget released to clubs.
Harness Racing NSW has also boosted the prizemoney for the NSW Breeders Challenge Finals to $150,000 each which, as with base prizemoney, is the highest provided for a State based futurity series in Australia. These Finals will be conducted in October.
Prizemoney levels at the grass-roots level provide a vital platform for industry sustainability and increasing base prizemoney permits a broader spread of returns to all participants including owners, trainers, drivers and breeders alike.

Yours faithfully,

Ken Brown AM
Chairman