New $7.5 million race for Sydney Spring

Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club today announced the launch of a unique, new race – The Golden Eagle – worth $7,5 million, to be run at Rosehill Gardens that will spearhead an expansion of the Spring Carnival in Sydney.

The Golden Eagle will be run over 1500m at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, 2 November 2019 and is aimed squarely at keeping the best three year-olds on the racetrack into their four year-old year with the race open only to four-year-olds and will be run at set-weight conditions.

Here is the full media release from Racing NSW:

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."

Had it existed in 2018, The Golden Eagle could have drawn horses such as those listed below.

Horses retired to stud have an asterisk next to their names.

"The Golden Eagle strengthens our spring carnival and provides a further highlight for spring racing in Sydney. It also opens up the possibility of attracting runners from diverse form lines including The Everest, the Sydney Stakes and the Epsom Hcp," Mr Balding added.

The Golden Eagle will also be the third leg of the new Golden Slam at Rosehill, with a $5 million bonus offered to any horse that can win the Golden Slipper at two, the Golden Rose at three and The Golden Eagle as a four-year-old.

"The Golden Eagle is an exciting development, which will bring together the best sprinter-milers of their generation at an age when they have fully matured," said ATC Chairman, Mr Matt McGrath.

"We are excited by The Golden Eagle, which alongside Rosehill's other great races in the Golden Slipper and Golden Rose, creates a Golden Slam that only champions can dream of," Mr McGrath continued.

"The Golden Eagle will be entirely funded by new revenues to the NSW Racing Industry. I am delighted that this enables The Golden Eagle to be added as an important feature race at Rosehill and will also distribute $750,000 to charities," said Racing NSW Chief Executive, Mr Peter V'landys AM.

"We want to bring another major event to the western suburbs of Sydney. In The Golden Eagle, we have provided a race that is also a celebration of the west of Sydney.

"Now having the third richest race on turf in the world behind The Everest and the France's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Sydney's west has the perfect day to celebrate," Mr V'landys concluded.

The prizemoney by finishing position, including the component paid to charity are summarised in the table below.