On the heels of Gulfstream Park's success hosting the inaugural $12 million Pegasus World Cup, Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club announced last week that beginning this October, Randwick Race Course in Sydney will host the Everest Stakes, a 1200 meter (six furlongs) contest worth $10 million (Aust), with the idea of attracting the best sprinters from around the world.
Not all racing jurisdictions are eager to jump on the 'racing sweepstakes' bandwagon, however.
In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges indicated that Hong Kong would not consider creating any type of similar contest.
“It will be interesting to see how many owners are willing to pay $600,000 (Aust) to get a place in this race, which is a modified copy of the Pegasus, which had on top of the prize money other revenue-sharing elements between the track and the owners/slot holders,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said in the Post.
“I firmly believe that these 'limited number of owners financing majority of prize money races' will be difficult to sustain.”
Engelbrecht-Bresges went on to say that “We have no intention to copy this or similar models and will stay with our practice of a one percent of prize money declaration fee for our top international races, which we think is a fairer offering for owners.”
Read more in the South China Morning Post
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