Small but welcome Stakes increase

Feature races need to double yet imo, but small steps are good

PRESS RELEASE

27 August 2021

Sent on behalf of: The Racing Association, Phumelela and Cape Racing

Stakes Support for Horseracing

The Racing Association is very pleased to announce that it will be contributing towards additional stakes in its jurisdictions from September to the end of December 2021.
Horseracing in South Africa has been severely impacted over the last 18 months and stakes remain lower than pre-Covid-19 levels impacting the entire value chain of racing. Revenue streams of the current operators remain under severe pressure as a result of, amongst other things, Covid-19 restrictions and the economic realities of the industry and the country. Phumelela remains under business rescue with 4Racing yet to acquire all of the gambling licenses in order to take transfer of the racing assets. Cape Racing is inextricably linked to Phumelela as part of the management agreement. While they wait for the transfer of the racing assets to 4Racing and discuss what a future partnership looks like, the matter of stakes remains a pressing one.

The Racing Association has taken a decision to further support owners through an increase in stakes for minor races in the Eastern and Western Cape and additional sponsorship of feature races on the Highveld. As a result of this and in recognition of the importance of owners in the industry, the racing operators have agreed to increase their contribution to stakes.

Stakes for minor races in the Eastern Cape have increased from R50,000 to R60,000 per race in July and with the additional funding made available by the RA, minor race levels will increase to R65,000.
Additionally, Listed and Non-Black Type feature races in the Eastern Cape have increased from R85,000 to R100,000 and R80,000 to R90,000 respectively. The RA have bolstered the stake of the Racing Association Stakes (L) and the Algoa Cup (L) to R150,000 and R200,000 respectively.

From 1 September stakes for minor races in the Western Cape will be supported by the RA with an additional R10,000 per race. Cape Racing have agreed to match this increase with a further R10,000 per race. This results in minor races increasing from R52,000, R57,000 and R63,000 to R72,000, R77,000 and R83,000 respectively.

From the start of the Highveld Spring Season in October, Phumelela has already announced that minor races in the three current tiers will increase from R70,000 to R85,000; R77,500 to R92,500 and R85,000 to R100,000 respectively. Simultaneously, Maiden Plates will receive an even bigger increase and rise from R70,000 to R90,000.

The RA will sponsor stakes in the following feature races from 1 September;



In addition to the support detailed above, the Racing Association is pleased to introduce RA Bonus Races for selected Maiden Plates to be run throughout the remainder of the season. The added stakes bonuses will be paid to owners who are RA members in good standing as follows:

Highveld bonus ​​R15,000
Western Cape bonus ​R15,000
Eastern Cape bonus​R10,000

Should the winner be owned in partnership, both/all partners will have to be members in good standing in order to qualify for the full bonus. Failing this, the bonus will be halved.

We would like to thank owners and racing stakeholders for their resilience, patience and unwavering passion for this industry. The Racing Association and the operators have been pulling together to ensure that we continue to work towards a common goal and the future sustainability of racing.

Well done again under difficult circumstances.