The Australian Turf Club has built a near million-dollar war chest to grow Sydney's autumn carnival internationally in the coming years as it prepares to have three of its biggest races exported into Japan.
The increased financial muscle of Sydney's sole race club has led to the ATC, for the first time, budgeting what is believed to be about $750,000 to partially fund the globalisation of next year's carnival and The Championships after failing to attract one international runner this year.
The Japan Racing Association has agreed to simulcast three races – the George Ryder Stakes, Doncaster Mile and Queen Elizabeth Stakes – to the racing-mad nation in a move that is expected to significantly boost the ATC's coffers.
The percentage the ATC will receive from Japanese wagering on three of its autumn features is understood to be worth anywhere up to $1 million a race, meaning the significant budget spend will pale into comparison with the potential returns.
The JRA will also allow wagering on the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups this year.
"To get our product exported and to try to get horses down for the autumn carnival, for the first time in years we've put money in the budget to have an international development program," ATC chief executive Darren Pearce said.
"It's not just about going overseas [to attract horses], it's about relationships with other jurisdictions and international wagering. We actually think it pays for itself with Hong Kong taking three meetings and it also pays for itself straight away if Japan takes those races.
"For the first time in years, we've paid off our debt, our prize money is healthy and we're trying to grow our business internationally and it's the right thing to do because racing is becoming more international."
The ATC and Racing NSW will be selective in their recruitment targets for next year's autumn carnival with Pearce stressing the money his organisation had budgeted for will not be blown in a single year.
But luring Japanese and Hong Kong horses to swell interest and wagering on Sydney's races in the huge Asian pools will be a priority for 2017.
A loss of form and injury – as well as a freak bleeding attack by Cox Plate-bound Tosen Stardom – robbed this year's carnival of any of the four Japanese runners who had committed to Sydney.
It drew widespread criticism after Canterbury was shut down for two months as a racetrack to cater for quarantine regulations, but not a single overseas horse eventually featured in the carnival.
But there are plans for Sydney officials to make pitches alongside their Melbourne counterparts to lure horses for schedules that could include a start during the Melbourne autumn before finishing in Sydney.
"Every time we send someone overseas there's 10 Victorians there and they've worked really hard [at international recruitment]," Pearce said. "And we've been way off the pace.
"The model is changing and international is a must for any business now. It's not a 'nice to have', it's a 'must have'. And we have to have a strategy around it."
