News & Media

22 April 2008 2008 Australasian Breeders Crown Heats Schedule Announced

Harness Racing Victoria Media Release

Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) today announced the heats schedule for the 2008 Australasian Breeders Crown.

Up to 66 heats and repechages will be run across each state of Australia and both islands of New Zealand in the sweepstakes series that offers close to $2 million in prizemoney annually to Australasian harness racing’s best young talent.

The first heats of the 2008 series will be held at Alexandra Park, Auckland, on Friday, June 13 when the three-year-old trotters step out in their opening qualifier.

The first Australian heats will be held at Adelaide’s Globe Derby on Friday, June 27, with heats scheduled for both the two and three-year-old pacing fillies.

The Western Australian heats for both 2yos and 3yos will be run at Gloucester Park on Saturday 5th July.

The qualifying action across the six divisions – two and three-year-old trotters, pacing fillies and pacing colts and geldings - will continue throughout July en route to the semi finals on August 9 at Bendigo and the lucrative Group 1 finals on August 17.

The full heats schedule can be viewed on the Australasian Breeders Crown website at http://www.breederscrown.com.au/ .

Under the sweepstake conditions of the series, the Breeders Crown pool is providing $5200 in prizemoney for each two-year-old heat and $5000 for each of the three-year-old qualifiers, meaning all heats and repechages in Victoria will be worth $8000 thanks to the support of Harness Racing Victoria.

Prizemoney for the heats conducted outside Victoria will depend on how much the host club wishes to add to the aforementioned minimum stakes.

A total of 2149 horses are eligible for the 2008 series that culminates with the running of 11th “Super Sunday” at its original central Victorian venue, Bendigo, on August 17.

Minimum prizemoney for Super Sunday will be $1.31 million with the six Group 1 Breeders Crown finals headlining a 10-race program that will feature for the first time this year the Breeders Crown Open Age Pace and Trot.

Both two-year-old pacing finals will be worth an estimated $300,000, the two three-year-old pacing finals will be worth an estimated $188,000 each with the two and three-year-old trotters finals estimated at $155,000 and $102,000 respectively.

HRV chief executive John Anderson said the announcements confirmed the Breeders Crown’s status as the most exciting series in Australasian harness racing.

“The Australasian Breeders Crown continues to grow in stature and we’re excited to unveil the details of the 2008 series which features outstanding prizemoney, an array of qualifying opportunities for horses on both sides of the Tasman and some exciting changes aimed at further enhancing the brand,” Anderson said.

“This year’s series will see the pacing semi finals being run eight days prior to the finals instead of five, greater emphasis on times as a means of qualifying for the finals and the move of the two open age free-for-alls to ‘Super Sunday’. The introduction of a four-year-old series in 2009 will be a further step in the evolution of this great series.

“With today’s announcement of the heats schedule, the path is now set towards the 2008 Australasian Breeders Crown, the finals of which return to their spiritual home at Bendigo, and we’re eagerly awaiting the beginning of the qualifying action on June 13.”

In other Australasian Breeders Crown news, yearling nominations for series 12 close with Harness Racing Victoria and Harness Racing New Zealand on May 1, 2008.

The progeny of any mare for whom a Series 12 broodmare nomination fee was paid are eligible and a list of the nominated mares is available on the Breeders Crown website.

Upon confirmation of the broodmare’s eligibility, yearling owners then have two options with her resultant progeny.

They can pay the $A220 yearling nomination now and a further age acceptance fee of $440 each year if they wish to race in the applicable two, three or four-year-old series.

Alternately, owners can pay the series fee of $A770 now, which incorporates the yearling nomination fee and two, three and four-year-old age acceptances thus providing a healthy saving of $A770 for those hoping to contest all three series.