Ballarat conducted the first VOBIS Gold bonus race on Thursday, however, the winner Ticket To Toorak wasn’t eligible to pick up a bonus.

In fact, Ticket To Toorak (Northern Meteor) was the only horse that wasn’t qualified for the $80,000 Super VOBIS 2YO Maiden Plate (1000m).  He was an $80,000 buy from Vinery Stud by Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock at the 2012 Inglis Melbourne Premier yearling sale.

“A total of 1,420 two-year-olds have been signed up to Victoria’s new VOBIS Gold Scheme,” Minister for Racing Dr Denis Napthine said.  “The Victorian Coalition Government is providing $6.8million over four years to the VOBIS Gold scheme.”

A minimum of 50 VOBIS Gold bonus races will be on offer for the first crop of VOBIS Gold nominated horses this season.  Each of these races will carry a $20,000 VOBIS Gold bonus on top of a Super VOBIS bonus, which ranges in value from $9,000 for country races to $30,000 for metro races.

Once fully operational ,there will $18 million in VOBIS Gold and Super VOBIS bonuses on offer annually in Victoria on top of prize money which is a nation high $160million in 2012-13.

The first metropolitan VOBIS Gold bonus will be on offer at Moonee Valley on Friday, November 30 with $85,000 available in total for eligible two-year-old fillies.