The Straight Daily News – Eagle takes flight to Randwick | NZTR shake-up | Sportsbet bounces back
Sydney’s signature $10 million race to be run at Randwick
The Golden Eagle will be run at Royal Randwick in 2025, six years after the now $10 million race for four-year-olds was first held at Sydney’s inner western racecourse Rosehill Gardens.
The lucrative race, which was won in its inaugural year by the Chris Waller-trained Kolding, has been successfully targeted by international horses in recent years despite the absence of black type status.
Japan’s Obamburumai won the 2023 edition of the Golden Eagle while William Haggas’ Lake Forest took out last year’s race, which has produced eight subsequent Group 1 winners, including Royal Ascot scorer Lazzat.
Racing NSW’s Peter V’landys, the architect of the Golden Eagle and the state’s other big-money pop-up race The Everest, announced on Friday that the 1500-metre race would be switched from Rosehill to Randwick from this November.
Golden Eagle flies east
NZTR executive undergoes major changes
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s Matt Ballesty has made sweeping changes to the upper management of the organisation.
Ballesty, who started with NZTR in early March, has axed three executive positions and created four new roles to take their place.
The chief operating officer, chief customer officer and head of marketing, communications and wagering partnerships roles will all be abolished under the new operational structure announced by NZTR on Friday.
A general manager of racing, general manager of welfare and industry capability and a new general manager of brand experience, communications and industry promotion will be recruited.
Ballesty’s ‘bold’ strategic moves
Sportsbet bounces back with revenue growth
Australia’s largest corporate bookmaker Sportsbet has returned to year-on-year revenue growth, despite ongoing decline in turnover on sports betting.
Flutter, Sportsbet’s international parent company, published its second quarter results on Friday, with the booming American market driving much of its 16 per cent global revenue growth.
The headline number for Flutter for the second quarter of 2025 was US$4.2 billion of revenue, with handle, the global term for turnover, jumping to $19.7 billion, up seven per cent on the same period last year.
Overall, Flutter has just short of 16 million global active monthly players, a number that just leapt 11 per cent on where it was at the same time in 2024.
The Asia-Pacific aspect of the business, which counts Sportsbet plus a small footprint in India, grew its revenue to $402 million, a four per cent growth in the figure on the same point last year.
That is a huge turnaround on the first quarter figures, which saw Asia Pacific revenue down 13 per cent year-on-year with Australian sportsbook revenues down 18 per cent.
Flutter has previously cited softness in the Australian racing market as a major contributing factor to its Sportsbet revenue decline over the past two years.
Sportsbet was able to achieve a three per cent growth in revenue despite a continued drop in handle, which was down six per cent year-on-year. Put simply, Australian customers were spending less, but Sportsbet was generating more revenue from those customers.
Nichols springs into action with blueblood filly
Esha, a high-priced daughter of Extreme Choice and the Group 1-winning mare I Am A Star, has thrust her trainer Shane Nichols back into the racing spotlight as the filly attempts to lay down a spring marker at Moonee Valley.
Extreme Choice filly has Nichols dressed for success
MIXI ups PointsBet play to $420 million
MIXI has upped its bid for PointsBet to $1.25 per share, valuing it at over $420 million, determined to see off the entreaties of betr for the publicly listed wagering company.
The battle to buy PointsBet has been ongoing for nearly six months and has stepped up in recent weeks, with betr putting up an all-scrip offer which it said valued the company at $1.35 a share
PointsBet’s board immediately rejected that offer, as it has all of betr’s previous bids, while MIXI has now built its hold on PointsBet to 28.2 per cent of shares.
MIXI has said its increased offer, which amounts to a maximum of $421 million, is fully funded and is not subject to financing.
The offer is now free from all conditions, including waiving the 50.1 per cent minimum acceptances condition, with MIXI to pay by August 29, or four days after the offer closes.
It has been declared “best and final”, with MIXI reserving the right to increase its offer if it acquires more than 50 per cent of PointsBet shares.
As a result, of the latest increase, PointsBet shares jumped from $1.22 overnight to a height of $1.27 on Friday, before settling back to $1.26.
PointsBet’s board put out an immediate statement saying it supported the latest offer from MIXI and unanimously recommends that shareholders accept.
Arqana connection keeps bringing Sandblom back
Black-type mares headline Digital sale catalogue
An abundance of high-quality broodmares and broodmare prospects headline a “breeders’ paradise” in the Inglis Digital August (Early) Online Sale.
Several young stakes-winning or stakes-performed race mares ready for their maiden covers are also being offered in the catalogue.
Cleo Cat is a Group 3 winner and seven-time victor overall from just 11 starts while Ausbred Flirt finished second to Amelia’s Jewel at Group 2 level during the autumn.
Group 2 winners Caste and Seonee, Group 3 WA Oaks winner Own The Queen and in-form six-year-old Group 3 winner Yellow Sam have also been catalogued for the latest Digital sale.
A share in champion New Zealand stallion Proisir, the sire of Group 1 winners Prowess, Legarto, Levante and Pier, will also go under the online hammer as will a 2.5 per cent share in last Saturday’s dominant Aurie’s Star winner King Of Roseau.
The final countdown for bidding in the August (Early) Online Sale begins at 10am (AEST) on Wednesday.
Golden Slipper sponsorship rights up for grabs
The Australian Turf Club has opened up bidding for naming rights sponsorship of the Golden Slipper.
TAB has held the naming rights for the world’s richest two-year-old race as well as the Golden Slipper carnival for the past two years. Prior to that, Longines sponsored the Slipper from 2016 until 2023, while the rights have also belonged to Tooheys New and AAMI since 2009.
“A rare and exciting opportunity is available to partner with the Australian Turf Club to align your brand with the iconic $5 million Golden Slipper – the world’s richest race for two-year-olds and a highlight on Australia’s sporting calendar,” an ATC promotion said,
“Celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2026, the Golden Slipper Carnival offers unmatched brand exposure through live broadcasts into 67 countries, year-round media coverage, and engagement with a premium audience of racegoers, industry leaders, and corporate guests.”
“This exclusive partnership includes naming rights to the Golden Slipper Carnival, Golden Slipper Day, the Group 1 Golden Slipper, and key lead-in races.”
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Rain sees Belmont moved to Pinjarra
The metropolitan race meeting in Western Australia scheduled for Saturday has been transferred from Belmont to Pinjarra.
Perth Racing officials, in conjunction with Racing WA stewards, made the call to move the meeting due to the forecast of up to 40mm of rain after receiving 11mm on Thursday night.
Belmont only returned to hosting meetings three weeks ago after it was sidelined due to an issue with the turf at about the 150-metre mark in the home straight, which jockeys and stewards deemed was unsafe.
In a release on Friday, Perth Racing said it could not be confident of getting through Saturday’s eight-race card if more rain fell.
“We also have to consider the management of the remediated section of the Belmont Park track,” Perth Racing said.
“If we race on a heavy surface, we run a significant risk of damaging the turf as it is still establishing roots, jeopardising our ability to stage meetings in the coming weeks.”
Bountiful passed in at pop-up sale
Northern hemisphere-bred and raced Zoustar filly Bountiful, a two-time juvenile winner who was stakes-placed at three earlier this year, has been passed in at a pop-up online sale.
The Highclere Thoroughbred Racing-owned filly, who is trained by George Boughey, failed to meet the 200,000 guineas (A$412,000) reserve when offered through Tattersalls Online in conjunction with Inglis this week.
Many Men, a three-year-old gelding by Study Of Man who is a last-start winner over 3200m at Ascot for trainer Jim Boyle, was also passed in with a 200,000 guinea reserve.
Bountiful, who is a daughter of Group 2 winner and Group 1-performed mare Rich Legacy, was beaten four lengths when unplaced in a fillies’ handicap over a mile at Goodwood last Friday.
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‘The horse must come first’ – Puerto Rican racing out in the cold over welfare concerns
Horse welfare concerns have seen a major American racing operation break ties with Puerto Rico’s main racetrack.
1/ST Racing, the racing arm of the Stronach Group, has cut signals from two of its venues, Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park, into to Hipódromo Camarero in Puerto Rico amid mounting concerns about welfare and safety at that racetrack.
1/ST Racing president Aidan Butler said while the decision would cost million in turnover it was a necessary step “to ensure Puerto Rican racing stakeholders understand that we will not do business with individuals or companies that do not make horse safety, welfare and post-racing retirement a top priority”.
The Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and the Thoroughbred Owners of California have backed the move.
“The ongoing welfare issues surrounding the treatment of thoroughbreds on the island are unacceptable, and meaningful change will only come when the industry demands accountability. We commend 1/ST for taking this principled stand,” Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association president Tom Cannell said.
It has also been confirmed that any license holder who ships or sells a horse to Puerto Rico will no longer be welcome to race or train at 1/ST facilities.
1/ST Racing has also donated $100,000 to the Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare.
“There is no place in our sport for neglect or inhumane treatment of horses,” Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) president Bill Nader said.
“The TOC fully supports this action by 1/ST Racing as a necessary step and its $100,000 donation to help drive home the message that the horse must come first.”
