Horse owner and breeder Ross Williams has praised Racing NSW's upgraded BOBS scheme after his horse Gemmahra took out the first Gold BOBS race under the new structure.
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The Gwenda Markwell-trained mare raced to victory at Muswellbrook earlier this month, Williams pocketing a bonus of more than $40,000 for the win.
The owner won't receive the cash, however, with the bonuses doubled if owners reinvest the money into breeding and buying horses, which Williams plans to do.
The win was Gemmahra's second-straight and Williams is now considering entering the four-year-old in the first new BOBS race to be held at Kembla Grange on January 29, a Platinum BOBS race that carries a $100,000 prize for the winner.
"It's something that's very lucrative to the horse owners that seize the opportunity," Williams said. "The field wasn't overly strong, there were a couple of city horses but I was pretty confident.
"She's a progressive horse, so she is out for a brief spell now to let her mature a bit more. She'll come back and go through one of those bigger platinum races, we've got the platinum race at Kembla Grange in mind."
The Breeder Owner Bonus Scheme was first introduced by Racing NSW in 2003 in order to encourage owners to purchase NSW-bred horses.
The scheme was upgraded in November, with cash bonuses increased and extended to horses aged four years and older.
With the cost of horses continuing to soar, Williams said the concept allowed smaller owners to compete with cash-rich rivals.
"With each state trying to compete with each other, they keep raising the bar. With prize money growing so rapidly, it's caused a significant rise in demand for horses in the auction sales.
"That's elevated the price needed to pay to get a racehorse and the little man finds it difficult to get involved. This helps make that a bit easier and lowers those costs.
"You'd be very silly not to reinvest the money, you're doubling your money if you do. You can use your cash for another purpose and keep doubling up with the BOBS."
This campaign is Gemmahra's first with Markwell, the horse transferring to the trainer from Dean Mirfin.
Two difficult starts at Kembla Grange followed before back-to-back wins at Nowra and Musswellbrook.
Williams and Markwell opted to send her for a brief spell, with Gemmahra now back in work in preparations for her next start.
Sired by Choisir, the pair are optimistic she can achieve success at the provincial and metropolitan grade in the future.
"Take nothing away from Dean, he had her in her first prep, if you get them to win a maiden in their first prep, you've done well, Dean did that.
"Gwenda's carried on what Dean started. She won in Nowra and won well, I expected that after what she showed in her first prep.
"To come out and win a gold race at Muswellbrook was a progression from the first race. I expect to see more progression, she's still maturing and filling out. She's still green, but we expect big things from her once she matures."
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