Racing Queensland (RQ) has announced a 9.8% increase in overall wagering results for the 2016/17 financial year.
Racing Queensland CEO, Dr Eliot Forbes said the pleasing results flow from a successful Winter Racing Carnival and Summer Racing Carnival, a restructured racing program and quality racing backed by local and interstate participation.
The results include:
· Thoroughbreds – 12.8% year on year growth
· Greyhounds – 8.4% year on year growth
· Harness – 4.5% year on year decline
“The growth in thoroughbred racing is particularly pleasing in a year where we restructured the Winter Carnival including shortening the Doomben 10,000 and scheduling it two weeks before the Stradbroke. As a result wagering turnover increased by 7% for the event.
“What is also significant is that the performance of Eagle Farm surface saw us move some of the Winter Carnival events to Doomben. Despite the move, the events were well supported by quality races and local and interstate participation.
“We achieved our objective of providing an optimal progression of race distances for the Group 1 races in the Doomben 10,000 at 1200m, the BTC Cup at 1300m and the Stradbroke Handicap at 1400m.”
The Winter Racing Carnival resulted in an increase in turnover of 14% across domestic wagering operators. One of the most positive aspects of the results was wagering support for provincial meetings including the Toowoomba Weetwood day, which was up 31%, the Ipswich Cup day was up 8% and the Caloundra Cup day which increased by 32%.
“The increases indicate that the quality of racing in our provincial markets is attracting punter interest from across the country.
“The Winter Carnival gained a new national audience online and on free-to-air with agreements increasing exposure through racing.com, Channel 7 and Sky Racing through Thoroughbred Central.
“RQ has been supporting our provincial and country race meetings, particularly during the Winter Carnival, with our ‘We’re Racing Everywhere’ campaign highlighting the depth and quality of racing on offer in Queensland across all three codes.”
The 2016/17 Summer Carnival was also a success increasing 7.1% compared to last season. Given there was one less meeting in the year, on a per race basis this equated to an increase in average turnover of 22.4%
The Magic Millions Gold Coast race day was once again the major drawcard with total turnover increasing by 16%. The UBET Summer Crown Bonuses provided a unique focal point and the second edition State of Origin Jockey series was run over the Summer Carnival with wagering growth on the programs of 6.6% per race.
The 2016/17 8.4% wagering increase for Queensland greyhound racing comes despite there being nine less TAB meetings for greyhounds than the previous year. The majority of affected meetings can be attributed to extreme weather factors associated with Cyclone Debbie and the subsequent flooding and damage. The wagering growth was reflected in not only metropolitan areas but provincial and country regions.
In Queensland harness racing the decline of 4.5% in wagering comes after four consecutive years of growth giving the code an increase of 22% over the five year period. Early indications suggest turnover figures were on an upward trend towards positive growth in the final quarter of the 2016/17 financial year.