Racing Queensland will aim to attract even more of Australasia’s best pacers to the 2019 Winter Carnival by presenting a special Grand Final ticket to the winner of every Grand Circuit event outside of Queensland for the 2018/19 season thanks to major sponsors TAB.
The ticket can be cashed in for $10,000 if the horse competes in the 2019 TAB Blacks A Fake Queensland Championship, the final leg of the prestigious Australasian harness racing series.
Racing Queensland Harness Development and Strategy Manager David Brick said the bonus aimed to further bolster the Queensland Winter Carnival, which experienced record wagering turnover and interstate participation levels in 2018.
“This bonus will further cement the Blacks A Fake as the Grand Circuit’s ‘Grand Final’,” he said.
Tiger Tara has already secured his ticket for trainer Kevin Pizzuto by winning the Victoria Cup, while the All Stars trained The Fixer earnt his ticket in Tuesday's NZ Cup.
The other Grand Circuit events included in the promotion prior to the Blacks A Fake are the Inter Dominion Grand Final at Melton, the Auckland Cup, The WA Pacing Cup at Gloucester Park, the A G Hunter Cup at Melton and the Miracle Mile at Menangle.
The $200,000 event held on the third Saturday in July was named after champion Queenslander and four-time Inter Dominion champion Blacks A Fake and has been won by champions such as Hectorjayjay and Imthemightyquinn.
“Only truly good horses come to Queensland and win the Blacks A Fake, evidenced by Let It Ride’s demolition of the quality field earlier this year,” Mr Brick said.
Let It Ride currently sits on the second line of betting for the TAB Inter Dominion, the 3rd leg of the Grand Circuit.
“The $10,000 bonus aims not only to attract Grand Circuit superstars to compete in the Blacks A Fake, but to further incentivise eligible stables to bring more horses to Queensland for the carnival,” Mr Brick said.
“We received positive feedback from trainers last year in relation to the bonuses offered including the 20k trainers bonus won by Matthew Craven.”
Further bonus offers will be made public once the carnival is finalised in the new year.
The Grand Final bonus will be split as follows:
- 80% to the winning owner
- 20% to the winning trainer
If the same horse wins multiple Grand Circuit races and then races in the Blacks A Fake, the connections of the horse will only receive one Grand Final bonus of $10,000. Should a dead heat occur in any of the eligible Grand Circuit races and both horses race in the Blacks A Fake, a single Grand Final bonus of $10,000 will be shared equally.