Back in July when NZTR announced stakes increases we also flagged a $500,000 Stakes Innovation Fund, which encouraged clubs to apply for initiatives which would improve their race meeting performance.

The first beneficiary of the fund was the Otago Racing Club’s Southern Miles series, which later gained sponsorship from the region’s flagship newspaper the ODT.

At the time NZTR’s GM Customer Dan Smith praised the job the club had done on its submission, saying it was “a comprehensive and considered submission, with a lot of work having gone into it, particularly from racing programming perspective.”

The 10-race series commenced with two heats at Wingatui on Boxing Day and, after the remaining eight races were held around the South Island, returned to Wingatui for the final on 5 March.

As the name suggests, all races were held over 1600m and, to be eligible for the final a horse must have competed in a heat.  The series also targeted the largest pool of horses in the region, with entries restricted to R74 and below.

The series certainly generated plenty of interest throughout the 10-race lead up to the final with starter numbers averaging 12.90, compared with the average of 11.76 across R65 and R74 races in the region across the previous season. 

However, it was turnover which really benefited from the hugely competitive fields across the series. While the average per race turnover of southern R65 and R74 races during 2020-21 was $157,913, the ODT Southern Mile qualifying events saw total turnover on TAB NZ of $2,231,534, or an average turnover of $223,153.

The final, which attracted a field of 14 and turnover of $307,756.  The benefit was also apparent when it came to the raceday turnover of $2.05million, compared with $1.62million in 2021.

The eventual winner, Henley, placed in two of the qualifying races on his way to taking out the $60,000 final at Wingatui for Winton trainer Sophie Price.

While the competitive nature of the qualifying races helped lift turnover, the series also benefited from having a media sponsor, with coverage of the series helping to raise local awareness leading into the final.