Sydney spring carnival to unveil second-richest race

Sydney’s spring carnival is set to have a new race and its prize-money will be second only to The Everest.

Racing New South Wales and Australian Turf Club officials are understood to be preparing to make an announcement as early as tomorrow about a revamped spring programme, reports the Daily Telegraph.

It is expected the new race will be worth more than the A$7.3 million Melbourne Cup and behind only the A$14 million The Everest as the Southern Hemisphere’s richest race.

However, racing officials are tightlipped about details of the new race proposals and revised programming for the spring carnival.

What is known is that The Everest clashes with the Caulfield Cup next year and there is speculation the new race could be run a week later, the same day as the Cox Plate.

The introduction in the past two years of The Everest, which has been run on the same day as the Caulfield Guineas, proved the Sydney and Melbourne spring carnivals can coexist.

In fact, betting turnover, on-course attendances and television ratings have soared at Randwick and Caulfield on Everest Day.

The Everest has also shown there is an appetite for quality racing in Sydney during spring once the NRL is completed.

Melbourne’s spring carnival is perfectly positioned after the NRL and AFL seasons and before the cricket and tennis seasons.

So it is understandable Sydney racing officials should look to make more use of the “clear air” for racing in October.