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The size and scope of the Australian thoroughbred industry rose to record levels during the 21017-18 racing season.

Racing Australia has released its overview of the 2017-2018 season, disclosing that more than $733 million was returned to racing participants in prizemoney and incentive scheme payments.

The 73 Group One races run in Australia during the season accounted for more than 11 percent ($83.55 million ) of the total, excluding the $13 million offered for The Everest.

A total of 35,107 individual horses competed in 19,409 races around Australia between August 1 2017 and July 30 2018. The total number of starters was 180,933.

The runners were prepared by 3234 registered trainers and ridden by 929 registered jockeys.

With new races such as the $ 5million All Star Mile and $8 million Golden Eagle coming online in 2019 along with across the board base prizemoney increases in several states the amount of prizemoney available in the current season is expected to soar above $800 million.

Total wagering turnover in Australia (TAB and Bookmakers) amounted to $19,554 million, with TAB turnover ($9,862m) only $200 million ahead of the trade done by on course and corporate bookmakers ($9,691m).

National TAB turnover has fluctuated minimally over the last 10 years while betting with bookmakers has doubled in the last decade due to the growth of corporate operators.