A.J.C. DERBY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 148, 24 May 1934, Page 10

A.J.C. DERBY.

A RICH STAKE. Next season’s Derby at Randwick will be the first since the Australian Jockey Club’s Committee decided upon a fixed sum for the winner. In the past, forfeits and sweepstakes went to the owner of the winner, but, on the coming occasion, all payments made in connection with, the entry and running of a horse are retained by the club. The next Derby is endowed with £SOOO, of which £3BOO goes to the winner, £BOO to the second and £4OO to the third. A horse can remain in until two days before the running of the race for £5, and the acceptance is £25. The prize still remains a substantial one to be won at a low cost, and will be more than double the amount realised by any yearling at the .1933 sales in Sydney or Melbourne. It is doubtful whether anything was really gained by making the added money for the Australian Jockey Club Derby £BOOO over a permd of years, states an Australian authority. It probably helped breeders to get higher prices for their yearlings, but. it did not give us better horses than if the stake had been half that amount. Nor did it greatly swell the fields, though, attracted by the n-reat prize, the runners occasionally included “impossibilities.” The new order of things will not adversely affect the race in any way, and from the 464 entrants wo should at least get as many starters as the eight of this season.