Inter-Dom. final worth $l80,000

Press, 25 November 1982, Page 27

Inter-Dom. final worth $l80,000

PA Auckland The Grand Final of the Inter-Dominion Pacing Championship at Alexandra Park in March will carry a stake of $lBO,OOO, making it the richest horse race in New Zealand history. It is $20,000 more than the biggest stake for a standardbred race in Australia, the Inter-Dominion final in Perth this year. Announcing details of prize money for the 1983 series, the president of the Auckland Trotting Club, Mr Ron Robertson, said last evening that it had been intended to give a stake of $165,000 for the pacing final and $lO,OOO for each of the nine qualifying heats. “The club can now give more,”, he said, “because a grant from the New Zealand Racing Authority is bigger than expected ($100,000) and we are receiving sponsorship from Caltex Oil and Telerad.

“The major sponsor, of course, is Benson and

Hedges." The official name of the event is the Benson and Hedges Inter-Dominion Championships. Stake money for each of the qualifying races in the pacing section will now be $12,500. This is $2500' more than in Perth. Mr Robertson said the club was conscious of the need to have strong Australian representation at Alexandra Park.

“The big stakes should help to ensure that,” he said. The stakes allocation for the trotting section of the championships has also been raised. Heats will be worth $9OOO each, $2OOO more than was planned. The stake for the Grand Final will be $60,000, an increase of $lO,OOO.

Stakes for all championship events at the four-night carnival, the first InterDominion at Alexandra Park since 1975, total $440,500.