TURN IT UP

IT’S Championships time.

For the hardcore enthusiast they need no introduction, though not everyone in the South will be completely enamoured of a Sydney racing carnival.

The Championships are a series of autumn Sydney race meetings featuring celebrated races including the Sydney Cup, the Doncaster and the Queen Elizabeth.

The Championships, in their fifth year, will offer prizemoney of more the

$A20 million ($NZ21.4 million) over two race days. The series is so packed with big races and prize money the world’s richest race for 2yrolds, the Golden Slipper, is not even officially included in the event.

It’s possible that in time they will become as highly regarded as the Melbourne Cup carnival. That may seem like a big call but with the riproaring start the concept has made in just five years, why not?

That success was absolutely guaranteed before the event even started, for two reasons.

The concept is a collaborative project between New South Wales racing authorities. But, most importantly, it has Government backing, to the tune of

$10 million.

Government investment has proved to be a winner. After handing out

$10 million to start the concept the

NSW Government did its research.

A report into the impact of the first year of The Championships found they brought in $48 million in economic benefits for the state, so the Government kept pouring money in.

There are two things to think about before asking whether the model would work here. A realist would think there is almost no chance a major racing event would receive Government backing. They would tell you that the Government simply does not care about racing.

There is a fair amount of truth in that. However, racing in New Zealand has had money thrown at it before and it was largely ineffective. The Auckland City Council put money into Auckland Cup Week, but it has fallen flat on its face.

Winston Peters turned the Auckland Cup into a $2 million event and boosted many other feature races. But the money did nothing but rile the industry up, with some arguing the cash could have been spread evenly rather than on a few big races.

Could you imagine racing’s highly paid administrators in Wellington being smart enough to come up with an idea like The Championships, collaborating with the codes and then taking the massive walk of about four blocks to Parliament to present the idea?

No?

Neither do I.

Happy trails