What needs to happen for my horse to be Vicbred eligible?
If your mare is served by a stallion who is standing in Victoria, South Australia or Tasmania during the relevant breeding season either of these two options can apply:
- If your foal is notified to Victoria (HRV) it will automatically be nominated for Vicbred
- If your foal is notified outside of Victoria (not to HRV) you can make your Foal Vicbred Eligible when notifying on Harnesweb.
If you don’t have a Harnessweb account, contact HRV Customer Service 03 8378 0200 or email info@hrv.org.au with breeding details.
You will be charged $220 which is the price of a foal notification in Victoria. Notification must be received by HRV no later than the 1st of May immediately following the foal’s birth.
Definition:
A ‘Vicbred stallion’ is a stallion that is physically standing in Victoria, South Australia or Tasmania during the relevant breeding season.
A stallion for which you have imported semen – even if purchased through a Victorian, South Australian or Tasmanian stud – will not be considered as a Vicbred stallion.
The ‘Foal Nominator’ is the person who owns the mare at the time of foaling.
If your mare is not served by a Vicbred Stallion, she must be inseminated in and foal in one of those states and her foal must be notified to HRV. The fee for this scenario varies as below:
- $220 for sires based elsewhere in Australia, Canada or Europe, and USA trotting stallions.
- $332 for USA based pacing stallions.
If your mare is not located in Victoria, South Australia or Tasmania and you don’t breed her to a sire based in one of those states, you are unable to make the resultant foal Vicbred eligible.
There are no yearling fees under the Vicbred program.
A 2YO age acceptance fee of $440 will be invoiced during December (before your horse becomes a 2YO for racing purposes). At this point you may instead choose to pay a higher Series fee of $880 which will make your horse eligible for its 2YO, 3YO & 4YO seasons.
If you don’t choose to pay the $880 as a 2YO, you’ll need to pay $440 for each age acceptance thereafter ($1320 total cost to be paid up as a 2YO, 3YO & 4YO).
If you don’t contact HRV during December to accept (age or series) or withdraw you’ll automatically be invoiced for the relevant $440 age acceptance fee. If you fail to pay the invoice by the 28th of February your horse will automatically be withdrawn and will no longer be Vicbred eligible for that season.
If for some reason you miss the deadline but still want your horse to be Vicbred eligible, the following late fee structure applies:
- Payments received from February 28th - June 7th: $880 for a single year acceptance
- Payments received from June 8th - September 8th: 3% of respective gaits final prizemoney for a single year acceptance
- Payments received from September 9th: 4% of respective gaits final prizemoney for a single year acceptance
Vicbred First Win Bonuses are only payable where payment has been received and processed and may not be backdated.
If you don’t choose to make your horse eligible for their 2YO season you can still pay up for their 3YO or 4YO seasons.
Tell me more about the First Win Bonus:
The Vicbred First Win Bonus is a bonus for a Vicbred eligible horses first win in a career or metropolitan race (stakemoney of $4,501 or more) as a 2YO, 3YO or 4YO in Victoria.
The Vicbred First Win Bonus (from 1st January 2025) is $7000 for 2 and 3 Year Olds, $5000 for 4 Year Olds and $2,500 for 5 Years Olds.
If a horse’s first applicable win is in a restricted race (stakemoney of $4,500 or less), half of the bonus will be paid. The other half will be payable if the horse wins a career ($4,501 or more) or metropolitan race at a later date.
Note: The remaining half of the bonus cannot be won by winning a race worth $4,500 or less and no national rating restrictions will apply for any first win bonus.
A Vicbred First Win Bonus ($2,500) will be paid to any Vicbred eligible horse aged 5YO or over who wins a race of $4,501 or more, provided they have never previously won a bonus (including a half bonus).
There are no sustaining payments required for 5YO and older horses.
Vicbred First Win Bonuses are distributed in the following manner:
- 80% Owner
- 5% Trainer
- 5% Driver
- 5% Foal Nominator (The ‘Foal Nominator’ is the person who owns the mare at the time of foaling)
- 5% Stallion Nominator*
*If there is no stallion nominator, the Foal Nominator will receive 10%.
For the Stallion Nominator to collect their 5% the stallion must have physically stood at stud in Victoria for the applicable season when the horse was bred
Bonuses may only be won where the applicable Vicbred Age Acceptance payments (and all late payment fees if applicable) have been received and processed by Harness Racing Victoria.
What needs to happen for my horse to be Vicbred Platinum eligible?
In order to be eligible for the Vicbred Platinum program, your horse needs to meet the standard Vicbred criteria and also have a Victorian freeze brand.
The first symbol of a standardbred freeze brand is an 'S'.
The next symbol represents the branding state.
A Victorian freeze brand is distinguishable by a number '3' as the second symbol - represented as an upward arrow. (See picture on the right)
The other states are represented by the following numbers:
NSW = 2
QLD = 4
SA = 5
WA = 6
TAS = 7
The next two symbols represent the year the horse was born.
Looking at the brand in the photo we can tell that the horse was born in 2012.
The bottom row of four symbols represent the horse's registered number.
Brands are generally located on the off-side of a horse's neck.
Vicbred Racing Eligibility
A Vicbred 2YO, 3YO or 4YO horse will be eligible to run in any Vicbred race or win any Vicbred bonus in a season if either:
(a) a Series Fee was paid on 1 January when it turned two years of age
or
(b) an Age Acceptance fee was paid for the relevant season.
A Vicbred horse 5YO or older may contest Vicbred races for which they are eligible irrespective of whether or not an Age Acceptance Fee was paid as a 2YO, 3YO or 4YO.
What needs to happen for my horse to be eligible for the Need For Speed Series:
A trotting horse bred anywhere in the world can be made eligible for the Need For Speed providing the relevant fee schedule is followed:
Foal Nomination - Due 1st August each year (when the horse is a Foal – 0 Year-Old) - $88
Yearling Nomination or Series Fee - Due 1st August each year (when the horse is a Yearling – 1 Year-Old) - $220
Paying a Series Fee as a Yearling covers the Yearling nomination and Age Acceptance - $440
Age Acceptance - Proactively invoiced 1st June each year (provided a Foal and Yearling nomination has been paid) Payment due by 1st August each year. Horse will automatically be withdrawn if payment not received by 15th August - $440
Late Entry Provisions:
If a payment has been missed and you would still like to enter your horse, the following late fees apply:
Late Foal Nomination
15th August – 15th November (0-3 months late) $176
15th November – 15th February (3-6 months late) $440
15th February onwards (6 plus months late) $880
Late Yearling Nomination
15th August – 15th November (0-3 months late) $440
15th November – 15th February (3-6 months late) $1100
15th February onwards (6 plus months late) $2200
Late Age Acceptance
15th August onwards (0-3 months late) $880