By Racing Queensland Chief Executive Officer Brendan Parnell

The Queensland racing industry is set to receive a prizemoney boost in the New Year.

Late last month, it was announced that the greyhound code will receive a $4.6 million boost from January 1, 2022.

Racing Queensland will deliver increases in prizemoney across the board, as well as boosts to appearance fees, the unplaced prize pool, and sustainability payments.

Almost $3 million has been allocated to increase the general prizemoney pool, equating to a 16% average uplift for all races run in Queensland.

A further $685,000 has been allocated to upgrade prizemoney for Group and Listed events across the state, headlined by a $150,000 increase to Queensland’s winter showpiece, the Group 1 Brisbane Cup.

The upgrade ensures that the $525,000 Brisbane Cup ($350,000 to the winner) sits firmly entrenched in the top sprinting features across the nation.

A number of TAB Golden Greys Summer Racing Carnival features will also benefit from the announcement, highlighted by the Group 1 Gold Bullion increasing to $300,000 in stakes, up from $235,000.

Other notable increases include the Group 2 Golden Sands for middle-distance chasers receiving a $53,000 boost to be now run for $113,000.

A further $313,000 has also been allocated to non-Group racing feature upgrades, which will include a number of new initiatives in Bundaberg, Rockhampton and Townsville aimed at promoting Queensland’s star regional chasers.

Beyond the $2.9m general prizemoney increase, appearance prizemoney will increase to $80 (up from $60) for 498m to 600m races, and $100 (up from $60) for races beyond 600m – a 9% total uplift – while the unplaced prizemoney (fifth to eighth placing) will double from $10 to $20 per runner.

Finally, an additional $150,000 will be dedicated to initiatives aimed at recognising Queensland bred racing achievements.

TAB Golden Greys Summer Carnival

It’s an exciting time in Queensland as The TAB Golden Greys Summer Carnival returns to Albion Park with six action-packed weeks of feature racing this month.

Staged from December to February, the Golden Greys will see the nation’s best sprinters, middle distance types and stayers chasing glory this summer.

As touched on earlier, a number of the Carnival’s feature races have received prizemoney increases, and we look forward to building on the pleasing success that the Golden Greys has enjoyed as it enters its third iteration.

Ipswich Cup

It was fantastic to be in attendance at one of the great nights on the Queensland greyhound racing, the Group 2 Ipswich Gold Cup.

There was a stellar crowd in attendance to see Louis Rumble dominate the race in a five-length win for Steve Kavanagh.

Although based on the Northern Rivers, Steve is a great supporter of Queensland greyhound racing, and I extend my congratulations on his triumph.

Congratulations to all at the Club on hosting another brilliant night of racing.

Queensland Flame ownership initiative

Finally, it was pleasing to see so many budding future greyhound owners visiting 90 Mile Kennels late last month to learn about greyhound racing ownership as part of our Chase the Flame promotion.

As a part of the Queensland Flame, we gave eight competition winners the chance to become owners for a night, and partner a greyhound in the race.

The winning owner will continue to partner the same dog as they progress to the $1.145 million TAB The Phoenix in a few weeks’ time, with up to $20,000 on offer if our representative is successful.

With the festive season upon us, I would like to take this opportunity to wish the entire Queensland racing industry a safe and merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Let’s hope that 2022 is our best year yet.