The Melbourne Racing Club has dismissed a suggestion by leading trainer David Hayes that a $5 million Railway Stakes would take the gloss off some of Melbourne's early spring features.
Western Australian premier Alan Carpenter has flagged a major cash injection into Perth's summer carnival should Labor win the September 6 state election, which at this stage is too close to call.
Under the plan, prizemoney for the Railway, currently at $1 million, would be lifted to $3 million in 2009 and $5 million in 2012.
Hayes, no stranger to Perth racing, said he would 'definitely' be interested in bypassing early spring races such as the Liston and Memsie Stakes in favour of the Railway.
And he believed other trainers would also follow suit.
But MRC chief Warran Brown voiced strongly his views on the Railway's standing on the Australian racing calendar, calling it a 'consolation prize for a horse that has problems in the spring'.
Brown's comments are sure to raise eyebrows among racing administrators as the MRC and Perth Racing both host legs of the Asian Mile Challenge.
He also doubted whether the Railway would attract horses from Japan and Hong Kong, who he said would be saved for Hong Kong's lucrative international meeting in early December.
"On a horse's CV, if it's a stallion or a mare, winning a Caulfield Cup or Cox Plate is going to look a lot better than a Railway Stakes in Perth, no matter what prizemoney if you're into breeding," he said.
"You get two or $3 million, someone might bypass the spring and say, 'well I'll give all the good horses a miss and go on for the Railway'."
"But I doubt whether you're going to get a star-studded field which is what they're after."
Brown dismissed the initiative as a 'political stunt' by the Carpenter Government.
"You've got to get elected first," he said. "I'd like to the see the colour of the money before I start panicking."
Hayes said it would be hard for trainers to ignore such a lucrative race in favour of races such as the Liston and Memsie Stakes.
"When you think Weekend Hussler was racing for $200,000 on Saturday, I think you'll find people will say, 'we won't race in the early spring, it's worth nothing. Go to Perth," Hayes said.
Doing both would be impossible as it was hard to get horses to peak in August and again in late November, Hayes said.
"If you've got a choice to peak them for $200,000 or $5 million, Melbourne's got to lift their game a bit," he said.
"The Toorak's only $350,000, the Toorak's in a bit of trouble isn't it?"
But Brown disagreed, saying the VRC's Emirates Stakes would be more vulnerable.
"But you'd want to be a brave man to set all your hopes on one race," he said. "If you miss it where do you go?"