Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club today announced the launch of a unique, new race – The Golden Eagle – to be run at Rosehill Gardens that will spearhead an expansion of the Spring Carnival in Sydney.
The Golden Eagle, carrying prizemoney of $7.5 million, will be run over 1500m at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, 2 November 2019. The race is open only to four-year olds and will be run at set-weight conditions.
Of the $7.5 million prizemoney for the race, 10% will be donated to charity. The connections of each runner will nominate a charity that has been accredited with Racing NSW and that charity will receive 10% of prizemoney won by their horse. Accordingly, $750,000 will go to charity. For example, as prizemoney for first is $4.1 million, the charity nominated by the owners of the winning horse would receive $410,000.
Prizemoney for the race will be funded entirely from new revenues, rather than drawing on existing revenues of the NSW Thoroughbred Racing Industry. This new revenue stream will be subject of a separate announcement.
“The Golden Eagle is the first feature race on the Australian Racing Calendar exclusively for four-year-old horses,” said Racing NSW Chairman, Mr Russell Balding AO. “We believe The Golden Eagle will be attractive in retaining our top three-year-olds to race on as four-year-olds and benefit the racing industry, underpinning the strength of racing in NSW and Australia more broadly.”
The Golden Eagle will be the third leg of a unique treble at Rosehill incorporating the Golden Slipper for two-year-olds and the Golden Rose for three-year-olds with any horse that can win all three to get a $5 million bonus.
Racing NSW also announced two new races the Bondi Stakes and the Golden Gift both carrying $1m in prize money.