Chad Schofield and Making Mayhem surge to victory.
The VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series has been hailed a success after distributing $2.3 million in prizemoney and bonuses across the 2014-15 racing season which concludes today.
The 13-race Premier Race Series saw VOBIS Gold-nominated horses compete for the lucrative prize pool at eight tracks across the state from Echuca to Caulfield.
The third annual Premier Race Series came to a successful conclusion at Caulfield last Saturday as Refulgent broke a year-long run of outs to secure the final series race of the series, the $150,000 VOBIS Gold Heath (2000m).
Trainer Mick Price continued his Premier Race Series dominance by securing three of the 13 races available with emerging two-year-old Prince Of Brooklyn and the Devon Park-bred duo Making Mayhem and Red Bomber.
Octogenarian owner-breeder Betty Hoare was the most winning owner of the 2014-15 series having bred both Red Bomber and Making Mayhem with her late-husband John, while Chad Schofield was the most winning jockey, securing three VOBIS Gold Premier victories aboard Making Mayhem, Red Bomber and the Colin Little-prepared Soosa Rama.
The feel-good story of the season belongs to Danny Curran’s bargain filly The Big Dance, who belied her meagre $750 price tag to take out the $250,000 VOBIS Gold Rush (1000m) at her trainer’s home track on debut, much to the delight of her boisterous ownership group.
The rising three-year-old will begin a Spring Carnival preparation aimed at the Group 1 Schweppes Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Moonee Valley tomorrow in a Benchmark 78 for three-year-old fillies over 1000m.
Racing Victoria Executive General Manager – Racing, Greg Carpenter, said the 2014/15 VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series had continued to build on the strong base developed since its 2012 launch.
“The VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series has produced some wonderful stories since its inception and the 2014/15 season was no different with exciting horses like The Big Dance, Fleur Fatale and Prince Of Brooklyn hinting at bright futures on the racetrack with victories in feature events.
“The expansion of the series to include four-year-old horses proved a success and we’re excited about the prospect of these horses continuing to target the series as we continue to expand it further.
“VOBIS Gold nominations for 2013 foals close on 31 August and, with the support of the Coalition Government, it's only a one-off payment of $1100 to be eligible for the feature races and bonuses right throughout a horse's career."
The VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series will be run in an enhanced format next season with a record $2.36 million in prizemoney and an additional two feature races on offer.
The expansion of the Premier Race Series means that, for the first time, more than $20 million in prizemoney and bonuses will be on offer across Victoria’s two lucrative owners’ and breeders’ incentive schemes, Super VOBIS and VOBIS Gold, in a season.
The highlights of the 2015-16 VOBIS Gold program, including enhancements to the VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series, are as follows:
- A total of $5 million in VOBIS Gold bonuses are on offer with 250 bonus races programmed across a variety of tracks and classes with the inclusion of five-year-olds for the first time;
- A record $2.36 million in prizemoney and bonuses will be on offer across the VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series – up from $1.9 million in the current season;
- Expansion of the Premier Race Series from 13 to 15 races for two, three, four and five-year-old horses at both metropolitan and regional Victorian racecourses;
- Expansion of the Victorian Owners and Breeders Raceday at Caulfield on Saturday, 16 April 2016, with the addition of the VOBIS Gold Heath (2000m) and VOBIS Gold Distaff (1400m, fillies and mares), bringing to six the number of VOBIS Gold-only feature races on the day;
- The identification of the VOBIS Gold Sprint (1200m) as a headline race for the Victorian Owners and Breeders Raceday with prizemoney and bonuses increased from $180,000 to $280,000; and
- The introduction of the first 2400-metre premier race for VOBIS Gold nominees with the season-ending $180,000 VOBIS Gold Stayers programmed at Caulfield on Saturday, 30 July 2016.
VOBIS Gold Nominations for 2013-born foals are open until 31 August, 2015. Horses must first be nominated to Super VOBIS to be eligible for the riches of VOBIS Gold.
Owners and breeders should visit owner.racing.com for further information about VOBIS Gold and the Premier Race Series.