A WHOPPING 128 percent increase of horse owners’ prizes to P122,929,590.91 for the Philippine Racing Commission-sponsored stakes races in 2018 is expected to further boost revenues and lift the standard of racing to world-class levels
Horse-owners’ prizes stood at P53,970,000 in 2016, which increased to P71,929,590.91 this year–already a 33 percent improvement by P17,959,590.91.
But that’s not all.
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have approved an additional budget of P51 million from the Department of Budget and Management for rating-based Philracom races in 52 weeks for 2018.
This means a total horse-owners’ prize of P122M from the figure of P53,970,000 in 2016, which the Philracom believes, can sustain the commission’s gains in terms of revenues and patrons.
“It’s a domino effect. When you increase the horse-owner’s prizes, they are more engaged in buying new horses. They hire more trainers and more grooms, thus more more income to more people. As a result, they produce better horses that give us better, competitive races. This in turn attracts more racing aficionados,” said Philracom Chairman Andrew A Sanchez. “We are therefore thankful to both the Senate and the House of Representatives for boosting the racing industry.”
In a noteworthy accomplishment, the Philracom has already arrested the decline of horse-racing revenues for the past three years with a marked increase in sales of P8 million after the first nine and a half months of the year.
As of October 11, 2017, horse-racing revenues have increased by P8,002,595 (0.14%) to P5,653,542,572 from the P5,645,539,977 of the same time last year.
And as of Oct. 19, the Comparative Average Prize of the Day has increased by 2.96 percent to P214,998.20 from the P208,634.14 last year and P208,304.29 in 2015.
The Philracom’s P22,170,755 average sales per raceday in 2017 is also a marked improvement from the P21,303,924 average sales figure from last year. Its P2,510,454 average sales per race this year is also better than the P2,450,321. average in 2016.
Contributing immensely to the spike in revenues was Philracom’s implementation of a new rating-based handicapping system as a result of the commission’s recent membership with IFHA, coupled with its marketing campaign.