Racing Queensland advises an amendment to the definition pertaining to wins in a metropolitan race.
The change, made in consultation with the Queensland and Australian Trainers Associations, will ensure future wins in restricted prizemoney races (i.e., the two $40,000 Saturday Metropolitan races) will be deemed non-metropolitan wins.
As a result, and with effect November 1, 2018, the metropolitan win definition will read:
For the purpose of determining metropolitan wins, a win in a flat race, the prize for which is worth $21,750 or less to the winner, run at a metropolitan meeting in Australia shall be deemed to be a win in a non-metropolitan race. When determining the value of prizemoney, no account shall be taken of bonuses or added stakes payment not available to all horses eligible to be entered for the race. A win on the flat in any other country shall be deemed to be a metropolitan win except that, for the purpose of this condition, no account shall be taken of wins in maiden races in Australia and New Zealand.
In order to complement the change it has been necessary to amend the prizemoney breakdown for the aforementioned races.
Accordingly, the prize money distribution relative to them will be:
1st - $21,750
2nd - $9,635
3rd - $4,900
4th – $2,330
5th - $1,385
This change will also be effective November 1, 2018, and will be prescribed in the programs section in the November edition of the RACE Magazine.
Importantly, the amendment threshold will ensure that wins in midweek metropolitan races in both NSW and Victoria will be over the threshold and as a consequence, be deemed of metropolitan status.