History in the Making Comes to Queensland

THIS SATURDAY, August 1st, 2015 will be an historic occasion, with the start of the new racing season and the rebirth of the Queensland racing industry.

"The Queensland racing industry has been waiting for this day for years," said TBQA President Basil Nolan.

"We will finally reap the rewards of the highly anticipated changes to the Queensland Thoroughbred Industry Incentive Scheme (QTIS) and the increased prizemoney, as negotiated by the former Racing Queensland Board through the Tattsbett deal."

With the government having already come out and announced that the new QTIS improvements are guaranteed, it means that from THIS SATURDAY -

* 100% of 2YO and 3YO races conducted within Qld will carry QTIS bonuses.

• Additional QTIS races will be programmed across the State

• QTIS will be expanded to include 4YO's in selected races right across the state.

• Breeders will receive an equivalent of 6 per cent of the winner's QTIS bonus for all QTIS races in Queensland for progeny of Queensland based stallions. This is applicable to 2YO, 3YO and 4YO racing and will include the progeny of every Qld based stallion for the crops conceived in the breeding seasons of 2010 through to 2014 (inclusive). This Bonus is for nominated Queensland stallions from 2015 onwards.

• Free racing for all QTIS registered horses, beginning with the crop of 2YO's in the 2015/16 season, following this group through their careers, and applicable for all future QTIS racing crops. Free racing can be interpreted as meaning no starters fees, no nomination or acceptance fees and no jockey fees regardless of the finishing position of that runner. The only exclusion to this would be for black type races.

• A special fillies and mares bonus will be introduced that provides a 50% increase to all standard QTIS bonuses. This will be applicable on all QTIS races and will begin with the crop of 2YO fillies from August 1, 2015. As they turn 3YO in 2016, and 4YO in 2017, this extra 50% bonus will be expanded to follow this crop through those age groups and is applicable to all future crops. For example, this means that in the racing year of 2017/2018, any QTIS registered filly or mare winning a QTIS 2YO, 3YO or 4YO race will be eligible for the special 50% bonus - making owning and racing a filly a very attractive prospect.

"The changes have been welcomed by owners, trainers and breeders alike and everyone is champing at the bit to get to the track this Saturday," said Mr Nolan.

"We need to thank the former RQ Board and the LNP Government for putting the Queensland industry on the front foot, and the current Labour Government for ensuring all that hard work comes to fruition, despite the turmoil as a result of the greyhound situation."

Plenty of excitement surrounds the first 4yo QTIS race - the QTIS Class 6 Handicap over 1600m at Doomben.

There have been twenty nominations for this history-making race.

Some of the State's top trainers, including Patt Duff, Tony Gollan, Ben Currie, Desleigh Forster, Barry Baldwin, Liam Birchley, Ray McCall and Kelly Schweida hope to take advantage of the substantial prizemoney on offer thanks to the QTIS bonuses.

The QTIS eligible horses are running for $66,100 to the winner, $20,000 for second and $10,000 for third.

"This weekend is a momentous occasion," said Mr Nolan.

"Queensland has been waiting a long time for the first of these implementations to begin and it is wonderful that the wait is now over."

Thoroughbred Breeders Queensland Release