Waller’s prize point – Is it time to slay the prize money beast?
By Bren O’Brien –
The Straight – June 03, 2025
Australia’s leading trainer of the past decade, Chris Waller, believes the prize money in his adopted country has reached a tipping point and it is time to take a step back. Bren O’Brien examines how ever-increasing returns to owners led to Australian racing’s inflationary bubble.
As Chris Waller surged past $50 million in prize money for the second straight season recently, the man himself took time to reflect on the current challenges facing Australian racing. Responding to the outcome of the divisive Rosehill debate in his weekly CWR preview video, one of the few forums where Waller has been open and honest about his concerns over the past 12 months, the champion trainer advocated for a minor reset.
“Maybe we have to look at prize money and just have a little bit of a cut, put some money into facilities, infrastructure and plan for the future, not just beg all the time,” he said.
There has arguably not been a racing participant in the country who has done as well out of the record prize money levels of the past decade as Waller. His horses have compiled over $420 million in earnings since 2014/15, of which he is entitled to 10 per cent. On Saturday, his stable took 30 horses to the races across five venues, and while Waller was unable to secure a win, his runners still banked over $140,000 in prize money. That was, quite literally, an average day for Waller, with that daily amount expanded out across the racing year worth $50 million annually.
This is not a criticism of Waller, who is within one Group 1 win of the seasonal Australian record, but a reflection of the effectiveness of scale as a business model when it comes to training. Both he and Ciaron Maher have had over 2000 starters this year, and both have their lowest winning strike-rate in over a decade. Yet both will easily break the previous Australian prize money record of $51.7 million, set by Waller last year – Maher already has $56.2 million
That level of Australian prize money – which grew from $528.8 million in 2014/15 to $985.8 million in 2023/24 – would not be an issue if all other aspects of the industry were in strong financial health. But as Waller himself acknowledged, there is little point having some of the world’s best prize money if infrastructure is being left behind. Three weeks ago, referring to the standalone Gosford meeting, which featured a $500,000 race, Waller suggested the race could be worth $450,000, with the additional $50,000 put into track maintenance.
Waller plays his politics carefully, but he does use the forum of the weekly preview, hosted by Charlie Duckworth, as an opportunity to air his grievances. Prize money allocation has become one of those, as has the financial status of the clubs.
“We need some guidance, some good leadership and … they can easily get things back on track,” he said last week. “They can get a better relationship with Racing NSW, ATC if they’re not getting enough money, so sort it out and get more members. We’ve only got 11,000 members, we need 100,000.”
Waller is far from the first to raise these concerns, but he is by far the most prominent, And these issues are far from localised within Waller’s base of NSW. Last week, Racing Victoria announced its annual schedule of racing for the 2025/26 season. But conspicuous in its absence was the schedule of prize money to go with this. That is still being worked on and is due to be announced in July.
Racing Victoria has a much-publicised budgetary issue. Last year, it recorded an $11.4 million loss, and while CEO Aaron Morrison has sought to address it with cost-cutting, including a round of redundancies last month, as well as a reduction in the number of meetings, there is increasing pressure on sustaining metropolitan prize money at its current level. In 2014/15, the top 10 trainers in Victoria earned $48.2 million in total prize money. With two months remaining of the current campaign, that figure stands at $78.6 million. And it’s not just trainers. The top 10 Victorian jockeys collected $41.1 million in prize money receipts a decade ago, while this year that figure stands at $74.8 million to this point of the campaign.
Prize money grew off the back of increased turnover through this period, which in turn saw more funding returned to racing, through race fields fees, and later, through Point Of Consumption Tax returns. Those who argue against prize money reductions say that the expense of doing business, particularly training, has skyrocketed over the last decade. Anyone who has been on the wrong end of an owners’ bill in recent times can certainly attest to this. But the beast of record prize money has fed an inflationary system, also driving bloodstock values ever higher, to the point where the market has become polarised. Smaller trainers and smaller breeders are wearing the cost and exiting in droves.
There has never been as much money in Australian racing as there has been in the past five years, but there is also evidence that never has there been so many finding it hard to make it work.
The concern, as Waller alluded to, is that the industry during the post-pandemic boom, may have squandered a generational opportunity to invest in tracks and other infrastructure, and lay the platform for generations to come. Hopefully, his clarion call, and the influence it carries, has not come too late.
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Guest Selector – Des Coppins
Here is what Des has for our readers this week
Greetings John and the Fortuna Team
Farewell autumn and hello winter!
Well done on Leaderboard’s brave second behind the outstanding weight carrier Stern Idol in last week’s Australian Steeplechase. The lighter weighted Fortuna multi tasker made up a couple of lengths on the winner after jumping the last fence and proved yet again what a versatile horse he is.
Of the three I penciled in last week the 10 to one chance Te Atatu Dream went down fighting while Cypress was clearly in need of the run and Dusty Road didn’t disgrace after finishing out of the money after copping a check from race rival Lux Libertas halfway up the straight. All three should be given another chance.
Before putting three in the hat for Saturday and beyond let’s first pass on my editorial piece for the week.
10 QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1. Is Amber Riddell potentially the best amateur turned professional since Jason Collett?
2. Did you know that the once premiership champion Rogerson stable had a 52 losing sequence before making it back in style with a treble at Cambridge midweek?
3. Has there been a better exponent of synthetic racing in NZ than Lhasa, who lumped 62kgs to win his 6th at Cambridge on Wednesday?
4. If Pride of Jenni was yours would you say enough is enough and now let’s find a suitable sire?
5. It looks like more than 24 NZ trainers will surpass one million in stakes won this season. Before Entain came on board, did you know the highest number of “million earners” in stakes won by our trainers was just 11?
6. Craig Grylls has twice as many wins on the current premiership than second placed Michael McNab at time of writing ( 134 – 65 ). How staggering is that?
7. While the much liked “Gryllsy” wouldn’t be complaining on stakes won this season which is close to $6m, that amount of money would only have him 12th on the NSW premiership. In saying that he’s only about $50k short of the all time stakes record set last year by Warren Kennedy and that’s truly outstanding isn’t it?
8. Has there ever been a more consistent jumper in NZ in modern times than West Coast. For the record he’s had 19 jumps races for 12 wins, 5 seconds and two thirds. In other words he’s never been out of the money over jumps.What a drawcard isn’t he therefore in the Awapuni Hurdles on Saturday at Trentham?
8. If he wins it’ll be West Coast’s second hurdle win – he won his maiden here two years ago at Trentham – and how about this if gets the job done it’ll celebrate yet another Awapuni Hurdles for trainer Mark Oulaghan whose winning record in this race date dates back 33 years ago with Ipso Facto?
9. For the sake of our jumps jockeys and jumps trainers, (some who have been around as long as Mark) don’t you wish them a safe and rewarding season? They deserve it!
10. When scrolling through the Kings Birthday honours list did you give a big smile when reading the dame hood bestowed on LA Stud Catriona Williams? Despite her riding accident which has left her as a tetraplegic for over 20 years her work to find a cure in the spinal research holds no bounds. She oozes quality and an honour richly deserved and so say all of us!
My three to follow this weekend:
It’ll be almost gumboot day at Trentham on Saturday.
Yolo ( Kevin Myers) is half sister to 2016 Great Northern Steeples winner Kick Back and looks ready to go one better in race one at Trentham after a bold second in the jumps arena on Monday at Te Aroha.
So Call Me ( Kevin Myers), from all accounts has been good at the hunts and/ or trials over jumps and with his ability to plough through the heavy stuff there should be money for him in a big way in race two.
West Coast, race 3.
Just 4 starts over hurdles but surely a weight special!
Good punting!
Des Coppins
021 448 052
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