Riches Down Under

There are some 104 races worth $1 million or more in Australia next year, giving owners a wealth of opportunity.

While Australia is an island so large it is considered a continent, when ranked by population size it is dwarfed by most major racing nations such as America, the UK and Japan.

Despite this, Australia has the second biggest foal crop in the world and is home more racecourses – 325 – than any other country.

According to Aushorse and Thoroughbred Breeders Australia chief executive, Tom Reilly, the size of the industry is testament to the support for racing across the country. Reilly, originally from the UK, has a wealth of international experience, having spent time with both Luca Cumani and Mick Channon in the UK, as well as Coolmore Stud in Kentucky and Christophe Clement in New York.

“Racing is in Australia’s DNA in a way in which it isn’t in many other places,” he explains. “When the country was colonised and towns built across the bush, the settlers would build a church, a pub and a racecourse. And many of those tracks are still in use today.”

This engagement with the Australian population has been sustained through races such as the Melbourne Cup, which has been an iconic event for more than a century, along with new innovations such as the Everest, which drew a sell-out crowd of almost 50,000 to Randwick racecourse last month.

The industry is also built on the strong foundations of a sustainable funding model, which sees racing guaranteed a percentage of all betting turnover. When combined with Australians’ willingness to have a bet, it proves a successful combination.

Prizemoney in Australia has increased by 92 per cent in the past decade and there are now some 104 races worth $1 million or more across the year – the equivalent of two a week. This compares with just 29 across Europe and the UK and 69 in America.

“As people will be aware from races like the Cup, the Everest or the Golden Eagle, the prizemoney at the top in Australia is very strong, but this also flows down to the lower levels, with the average race value over $53,000,” says Reilly.

There is no doubt this funding model encourages people to get involved in ownership at a level that is unimaginable in other jurisdictions.

More than 140,000 individual Australians owned a share in a racehorse that competed in the last racing season. This equates to one in every 157 adults.

This engagement means racing is a mainstream sport and is regularly covered across all major news outlets and sees racing broadcast on free to air TV every day.

“For those that haven’t been racing in Australia, I’d definitely encourage them to come down and experience one of our great days at the track and combine it with one of our sales,” adds Reilly.