The Murrumbidgee Turf Club is the host of the Wagga Wagga Gold Cup carnival. The feature event at the carnival is the Wagga Town Plate. This horserace, which carried a prize of $65 000 in 2012, now has prize money into the six figures. This is significantly more prize money than the standard Saturday metropolitan race in both Sydney, which has an average of $85,000, and Melbourne, with average purses of $80,000. This also takes the Murrumbidgee Turf Clubs’ bid to gain listed status for the Wagga Town Plate to a whole new level.

The MTC has continued to nurture the goal of gaining listed race status for the Wagga Town Plate, although there has been little advance over recent years. It is hoped the attractive, and increased prize money will draw the major metropolitan stables and thereby hopefully attract the quality of horse needed to upgrade to listed standard.

This is the third year in a row the MTC has lifted the prize money for its premier sprint event. The prize money for the Wagga Gold Cup, run on the second day of the carnival, will remain at $140 000.

This will be the richest ever Wagga Gold Cup carnival with $552 500 up for grabs over the two major days.

Traditional Australian Horse Racing

Australians have a long tradition and history with gambling. This tradition and history has been built upon the legacy of a horse racing industry that is world class. A well-developed industry, with huge international horse racing events, legendary horses and jockeys and respected breeding lines, horse racing and Australia have their histories and destinies entwined.

The online betting facilities are similarly impressive, with a huge choice of online crown oaks betting variants and wagering options. These facilities that are available for Antipodean access are also highly rated for their quality, high gaming standards, generous welcome bonuses and secure, safe online gambling conditions. With the incredible convenience of online and mobile access, attendance at any, or all, racetracks is possible from the comfort of your couch.

Success at the Wagga Town Plate

The key to improving ones chances at the horses, and winning that life altering amount of money, is to become as informed as possible. Betting on anything without proper knowledge of what you are actually staking your money on, is, euphemistically put; risky. Like wagering hard-earned cash on a horse because it has a nice name.

There are two areas where learning is required. The first one is all about the horses and the second is all about the money.

In the first case, learning about the horses themselves is essential to improving your chances of predicting the outcome of the race. Whilst there is no ‘winning formula’, knowing about the horses’ age, form, distance preferences, jockey, trainer, handicap and lane draw are certainly going to improve selection of the horse and jockey combination.

The 2015 Wagga Town Plate saw victory for the Canberra-based trainer Trevor McIlrick, combined with prolific bush hoop Brendan Ward and the well-backed Got The Goss. This was a significant victory considering the current levels of prize money, and increased interest from the neighbouring metropolitan stables.