With countless bonus schemes in place in Australian horse racing, we make sense of them for you and take you through the ones you need to know.
When you first purchase a unit or share in a racehorse, the immediate vision every owner has is their horse being first past the post in the next Melbourne Cup.
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While not everyone will win the Melbourne Cup with their horse, bonus schemes have become commonplace over the past few years and makes it possible for owners to make decent returns no matter what their level of racing is.
But with prize monies on the rise and breeder/owner incentive schemes and bonuses being offered by each State Racing Authority [not to mention nearly all the sales houses] it can be difficult to know just what your horse is eligible for or what scheme is applicable to you.
What are bonus schemes?
Bonus schemes are additional prize monies offered for horses that are raced in the state they are bred in. Essentially, by offering these bonus schemes racehorse owners can significantly increase their earning potential of their horse by nominating for these schemes/bonuses.
Buy unit/s in Not A Royal Doubt trained by Gai Waterhouse
These bonus schemes can be highly lucrative with over $112 million in bonuses paid out by Racing NSW alone up to the end of the 2017 racing season.
Why do we have bonus schemes?
Today some of the best sires and broodmares in the country are Australian. However, this was not always the case and it is the major reason for most breeder incentive schemes operated by each state racing authority.
Born out of the desire to encourage breeders to invest locally, breeder owner schemes are designed simply to make it more financially rewarding to breed and race locally by increasing the potential racetrack earnings over their racing career.
How do you participate in bonus schemes?
There are several steps to becoming eligible, let’s look at the NSW Breeder Owner Bonus Scheme(BOBS) as an example.
To be eligible for BOBS, a racehorse must be sired by a NSW based stallion whose nomination fee has been paid.
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Then these horses must be nominated (for an approximate fee of $990) when they are about to turn two-years-old or have just done so. Late nomination fees apply (up to $5,000) and a horse cannot be nominated once it has turned three-years-old.
Once nominated, your horse can then win a bonus payment of up to $20,000 for each win on a NSW track (except Group and Listed races) during its 2YO and 3YO racing career.
It is really important to note that each state scheme operates differently, however all include a nomination and eligibility path based predominantly on the Sire.
What are the state based schemes?
In New South Wales the current bonus schemes are:
- BOBS
- BOBS Extra
- BOBS Double up
- BOBS Double Up (stallions)
- BOBS Mare Bonus
In Victoria the current bonus schemes are:
- Super VOBIS (Victorian Owners and Breeders Incentive Scheme)
- VOBIS Gold
In Queensland the current bonus scheme is QTIS (Queensland Thoroughbred Incentive Scheme)
Other schemes also operate in South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia.
Are there other bonus schemes?
Not to be outdone by the state racing authorities the significant sales houses also offer bonus schemes as well. These bonus schemes come in the form of additional prize monies for races or race carnivals.
Magic Millions has taken the approach of providing a Race Series with the first ever $10 million race day in Australia – Magic Millions Gold Coast Race Day in January of each year.
Nomination is exclusive to horses which were sold or passed in as a yearling at a recognised Magic Millions Yearling Sale and nominated to the Race Series. Races are programmed for 2YOs and up from 1000m-2200m.
A similar program exists for Inglis sales however this series attracts a higher nomination fee at this stage.
Which miRunners horses are eligible?
The miRunners yearlings qualified as BOBS eligible at purchase this year:
- Not A Royal Doubt– trained by Gai Waterhouse / Adrian Bott
- Your Song x Sheeznodoubt – trained by Tony Gollan
- Rubick x Slainte – trained by Bjorn Baker
The miRunners yearling qualified for Super VOBIS:
- Zoushack – trained by David Hayes
The miRunners yearlings who qualify for the Magic Millions Race Day Series:
- Saganaki – trained by Kris Lees
- Shezawitness – trained by Mick Price
- Not A Royal Doubt
- Your Song x Sheeznodoubt
- Rubick x Slainte
- Zoushack
The miRunners yearlings qualified as QTIS eligible at purchase last year:
- Saganaki
With so many added incentives for racehorse owners now is a great time to get into ownership at the highest level with miRunners.
