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Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club today announced the launch of a unique, new race – The Golden Eagle.
The Golden Eagle will be run at Rosehill Gardens that will spearhead an expansion of the Spring Carnival in Sydney.
The Golden Eagle, carrying prizemoney of $7.5 million, will be run over 1500m at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, 2 November 2019.
The race is open only to four-year-olds and will be run at set-weight conditions. Of the $7.5 million prizemoney for the race, 10% will be donated to charity.
The connections of each runner will nominate a charity that has been accredited with Racing NSW and that charity will receive 10% of prizemoney won by their horse.
Accordingly, $750,000 will go to charity. For example, as prizemoney for first is $4.1 million, the charity nominated by the owners of the winning horse would receive $410,000.
Prizemoney for the race will be funded entirely from new revenues, rather than drawing on existing revenues of the NSW Thoroughbred Racing Industry. This new revenue stream will be subject of a separate announcement.
“The Golden Eagle is the first feature race on the Australian Racing Calendar exclusively for four-year-old horses,” said Racing NSW Chairman, Mr Russell Balding AO.
“We believe The Golden Eagle will be attractive in retaining our top three-year-olds to race on as four-year-olds and benefit the racing industry, underpinning the strength of racing in NSW and Australia more broadly.”
Two additional $1 million Races for Spring
The Golden Eagle headlines changes to the program for spring racing in Sydney which will feature a race that highlights each Saturday meeting through to 9 November 2019.
This also includes a new $1 million three-year-old and a $1 million two-year-old race highlighting Saturday race programs in October and November. The new $1 million Bondi Stakes will be run at Royal Randwick for three-year-olds over a distance of 1600m on 26 October 2019.
The race provides a new spring target for three-year-olds in Sydney and follows on from races such as the Golden Rose and the Flight Stakes. The Golden Gift, an 1100m race for two-year-olds which was first run by the ATC in 2015, will now be run for $1 million prizemoney on Saturday, 9 November 2019.
This race provides a focal point for two-year old racing in the spring, with the prizemoney on offer enough to ensure that the first and second placegetters will gain a berth in the Golden Slipper.
With the addition of these new feature races, the highlight of each spring program in Sydney for 2019 is as follows:
7 September 2019 - Chelmsford Stakes (Randwick)
14 September 2019 - Run To The Rose (Rosehill)21 September 2019 - George Main Stakes (Randwick)
28 September 2019 - Golden Rose (Rosehill)5 October 2019 - Epsom Handicap (Randwick)
12 October 2019 - Spring Champion Stakes (Randwick)19 October 2019 - The Everest (Randwick)
26 October 2019 - Bondi Stakes (Randwick)2 November 2019 - The Golden Eagle (Rosehill)
9 November 2019 - Golden Gift (Rosehill)“This program of exciting feature races will maintain keen interest in Sydney racing following The Everest and throughout the spring,” Mr Balding concluded.
