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The 2019 Northern Queensland Winter Racing Carnival will commence in Rockhampton next week with a record $2.7 million in prize money on offer through to September.
Staged over nine feature meetings from July 5 to September 14, the carnival has been bolstered with an additional $250,000 for the Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns Cups and the FNQ Amateurs Cup in Cairns, ensuring each of the staying features carries a purse of $150,000.
In addition, the TAB Queensland Northern Crowns Series will provide up to $350,000 in bonuses for any sprinter or stayer winning three of the five respective features held throughout the carnival.
"North Queensland provides an amazing backdrop throughout winter to race," RQ CEO Brendan Parnell said.
"This year we've made a conscious decision to bolster the prize money for our Cups, whilst continuing the popular Northern Crowns Series.
"By offering up to $350,000 in bonuses – in addition to record prize money - there is real incentive for trainers to target the Northern Crowns and extend their horses' campaigns throughout the entire carnival.
"Thanks to the support of the Queensland Government, we've also been able to implement significant prize money increases over the past eight months for northern provincial Showcase meetings (36%), standard meetings (21%) and Saturday provincial 2 meetings (25%)."
First introduced in 2018, the Northern Crowns Series offers a $150,000 bonus to any horse that can secure three of the five staying races – the bonus swells to $200,000 should one of the three wins include the FNQ Amateurs Cup in Cairns on September 14.
The incentive scheme is mirrored for sprinters with a $100,000 bonus initially on offer, which rises to $150,000 if victory includes the Cairns Amateurs Open Sprint.
In addition to the staying races, the Rockhampton Newmarket Handicap and Townsville's Cleveland Bay will be run as $100,000 features this year, while the Mackay Newmarket will be worth $75,000.
The Cairns Newmarket and Cairns Amateurs Open Sprint also rise to $75,000.
2019 Northern Queensland Winter Racing Carnival
Friday, July 5 - Rockhampton Newmarket Day
Saturday, July 6 - Rockhampton Cup Day
Saturday, July 13 - Mackay Cup & Newmarket Day
Thursday, July 25 - Townsville Cleveland Bay Handicap Day
Saturday, July 27 - Townsville Cup Day
Saturday, August 3 - Cairns Newmarket Day
Saturday, August 10 - Cairns Cup Day
Friday, September 13 - FNQ Amateurs Ladies Day
Saturday, September 14 - FNQ Amateurs Cup Day
