Canberra trainers and owners are set to benefit from Racing NSW introducing a race at Saturday metropolitan meetings in Sydney specifically for country-trained horses.
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Dubbed the "Highway Handicap", each race will have a total of $40,000 in prizemoney, which is equivalent to the purse of a mid-week metropolitan race.
There will be a nine-race card at 40 city meetings each season to accommodate the change, starting from December 1.
Although the prizemoney is less than a regular race on a Saturday in the city, it is far greater than the standard amounts for a country race.
A general mid-week race in Canberra has a purse of $16,000, while country races have $15,000.
Canberra trainer Nick Olive said the move would encourage trainers from the ACT to take more of their promising runners to the city.
"It will showcase country racing on a Saturday and I think they will be good, competitive races," Olive said.
"It gives the country participants a crack at some decent prizemoney without having to take on the big boys.
"I've got no doubt in the future the prizemoney will be increased, but to start with it's great.
"It's basically a country cup every Saturday."
The other change is an increase in the minimum topweight for metropolitan races from 59 kilograms to 61 to encourage bigger fields.
With the bottom weight staying at 54kg, there is now a 7kg spread between the stronger runners in a race and those considered to be weaker.
"It means that horses will be racing with their proper weight more," Olive said.
"It should increase field size and gives a better true scale of handicap across the race."
Canberra Racing Club chief executive Peter Stubbs said he doesn't believe the introduction of the "Highway Handicap" would encourage trainers to skip country meetings to focus on the city.
"It strengthens racing rather than weakens it," Stubbs said.
"It gives owners and trainers a little bit better ability to compete for better prizemoney.
"That's all good for racing because it encourages reinvestment into the industry and ownership so that's all positive for the racing industry."
Meanwhile, Canberra trainer Matthew Dale will be looking for big things out of Northern Fury when she debuts at Caulfield on Saturday.
After back-to-back wins at Wagga Wagga to start her career, Northern Fury steps up a class chasing a third straight victory in a three-year-old fillies handicap (1200m).
