RACING Victoria Ltd and the state government have delivered a major funding boost to jumps racing and warned protesters that the sport will ''not be held to ransom by a small but vocal minority'', reports The Age. It says: ''The board [of Racing Victoria] is committed to jumps racing, both hurdles and steeplechasing. We are backing jumps racing, as we should be,'' RVL chief executive Rob Hines said yesterday as he unveiled a package of initiatives designed to develop steeplechasing and hurdling
RACING Victoria Ltd and the state government have delivered a major funding boost to jumps racing and warned protesters that the sport will ''not be held to ransom by a small but vocal minority'', reports The Age.
It says: ''The board [of Racing Victoria] is committed to jumps racing, both hurdles and steeplechasing. We are backing jumps racing, as we should be,'' RVL chief executive Rob Hines said yesterday as he unveiled a package of initiatives designed to develop steeplechasing and hurdling as the centrepiece of Victorian winter racing.
Next season prizemoney will be lifted to $3.2 million, 26.5 per cent higher than current levels. The calendar has been compressed into a five-month window, with the highlights, the Grand Nationals, to be run in July.
Minimum prizemoney has been increased to $20,000 per race, with a first-time jumps winner gaining an extra $10,000 bonus. There will be 15 major races - with prizemoney of $100,000 or more - compared to 11 now. The Grand National Steeplechase at Betfair Park and the Grand Annual at Warrnambool have had cash injections, lifting their stakes to $250,000. RVL has also scrapped the Key Performance Indicator statistics (measuring injuries and fatalities) which were put in place to determine the sport's viability. It will now monitor the casualty rate on an ongoing basis and take action where needed rather than set minimum fatality and fall-rate measures.