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“I think it’s one of the biggest crowds, if not the biggest they get at Randwick … so putting on a big race locally seems like a pretty good idea,” O’Brien told 3AW.
“Ultimately the fan who’s sitting at home on these big days wants as much good product as they can get, and if there’s a big race in Sydney an hour after the Melbourne Cup, that can only be a good thing for most people.”
Victorian racing minister Martin Pakula told Racing.com that the new race, branded The Big Dance, would not detract from Australia’s greatest race.
“It is a country cup final and New South Wales can call it the big dance, the greatest show on earth, nirvana – it doesn’t really matter,” Pakula said.
“It’s not going to detract from the Melbourne Cup. It becomes a problem when it impacts on the field. This won’t impact on the field [because] I’m pretty confident that no horse running in a country cup final would otherwise be running in the Melbourne Cup.”
“Next week is Valentine’s Day. Why wouldn’t all the florists be open on that particular day when you are going to sell the most product?”
Peter V’landys
V’landys said the new race was aimed to complement Victorian racing, not compete with it.
“Next week is Valentine’s Day,” V’landys said.
“Why wouldn’t all the florists be open on that particular day when you are going to sell the most product? It’s the same here for us.
“On that particular day, the Victorians do a great job in attracting the national audience, so we are just going to provide our own flowers.”
Trainer Danny O’Brien and 2019 Cup winner Vow And Declare.Credit:Justin McManus
As part of The Big Dance promotion, V’landys said Racing NSW would also hope to land an international music act to perform at Randwick to encourage under-35s to attend.
As part of the major announcement, V’landys and Racing NSW chairman Russell Balding also revealed a new $2 million 1800-metre race on Stakes day, called The Five Diamonds, exclusive to five-year-olds.
The group 1 Spring Champion Stakes, over 2000 metres for three-year-olds, also received a prize boost to $2 million and was moved to Cox Plate day, a week before the VRC Derby.
“The additional feature races for the Sydney Spring Carnival will complement the success that The Everest and The Golden Eagle have had already and provide even more opportunities for racing to attract new customers,” Balding said.