Article: Turf club set to make history

Friday August 14, 2009

By ALEX TENG

PENANG Turf Club (PTC) is set to create history at the end of the month with two RM1mil races at its Batu Gantong course.

This is the first time that such a stake is being offered for two of the local races.

Both races - Astro Wah Lai Toi Sprint Trophy and the 2009 Malaysian Magic Millions (MM) Classic - will run on Aug 30 meeting.

Apart from the time-honoured Sprint Trophy and the MM Classic race, there are several other top class races to be staged during this meeting where the overall prize money totalled RM4.5 million.

The other feature races include the Equine Capital Cup, the Bendigo Jockey Club Trophy, the Darwin Turf Club Trophy, the Perth Racing Trophy, the Royal Turf Club of Thailand Trophy, the William Inglis & Son Trophy, the Dr Lim Ah Soo Memorial Trophy, the Eliza Park Trophy, the Dawson Stud Trophy, the Oakwood Farm Trophy, the Tattersalls Trophy, the New Zealand Bloodstock Trophy and the TopGear Trophy.

Magic Millions (MM) Sales Pty Ltd, a popular international thoroughbred auction house based in Gold Coast, Australia, will be the sponsor for the 2009 Malaysian MM Classic while Astro Wah Lai Toi maintains its status as the sponsor for the Sprint Trophy.

MM Managing Director David Chester said the increase in stake for the race was in response to the calls from the owners and trainers to have a bigger and better payout for the event.

He said there was a move to elevate the status of the Malaysian MM Classic to become the richest race in the country in the next five years.

The increase of the prize money to RM2mil a race will help improve the standard of the horse racing here.

"This is our long-term commitment to the local horse-racing industry," said Chester.

Currently, the richest race in the country is the RM1.35mil Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Gold Cup, which is staged in Penang in December.

For the 2009 Astro Wah Lai Toi Sprint Trophy, a bonus of RM300,000 will be given out if there are six or more runners in the field from the Singapore Turf Club.

Like in the past, Astro Wah Lai Toi Sprint Trophy Meeting is expected to attract delegates from countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, New Zealand and even from as far as the United Kingdom.

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Metro: North 14 August 2009