Otago standardbreds crossing the border for successful raids on Southland race meetings next season will come back richer than before.
The Southern Harness Racing organisation, which administers racing on behalf of Southland's trotting clubs, confirmed at a board meeting yesterday that next season's stakes would be boosted.
''Minimum stakes will go to $8000 for maiden races and all other classes will go to $9000-plus, apart from claimers,'' general manager Jason Broad said.
Claiming races in Southland were likely to be staked at $7000, Broad said.
Those levels equate to a winning stake of $5900 for previous race winners, $4400 for maiden winners and $3850 for claiming races.
Maiden race winners would also receive an additional $1500 bonus after Harness Racing New Zealand confirmed the continuation of its maiden winners bonus scheme.
The scheme, which pays $1500 to the owners of horses winning their first race, was introduced in April, but confirmed only until the end of this season, which ends on July 31.
Harness Racing New Zealand chief executive Edward Rennell confirmed that the $1500 bonus payments would continue for all of next season.
''We just wanted the people, when they get their first win, to get a decent stake . . . We think that is really important,'' he said.
There is a real possibility that stakes for faster-rated races in Southland would rise past the $9000 minimum as the Southern Harness Racing was looking to tier its stakes structure.
Currently horses at the bottom end of the rating scale are racing for the same money as faster-class horses.
The organisation was looking to change that to reward better horses, Broad said.
''At the moment a rating 60-70 horse is racing for the same as a lower-end horse, so hopefully we can give them a wee bit more.''
Details of how the plan would be implemented will be confirmed once programmes for the new season were in place, he said.
''We are looking at having a futurity series for both pacers and trotters, with a final at the end of November. This would begin from our first meeting of the season where points will be allocated for first, second and third, with the final possibly run at $14,000,'' Broad said.
''It will be something to get the horses back into work early for and give them something to aim for. The nomination fee will only be around $50.''
Stakes boosts in Southland are a direct result of savings made through Southern Harness Racing administering the clubs and handling stake levels through a bulk funding system.
''The whole centralised operation is a very efficient operation,'' chairman Kevin McNaught said.
The organisation's funding theory was to maximise stake money by restricting spending in other areas, he said.
McNaught confirmed next season's feature races including the Southern Supremacy, Southland Oaks, and Northern Southland and Invercargill Cups would remain at current stake levels. However, races on the under-card would be boosted to $12,000, he said.
-By Jonny Turner
