Lower class horses are now racing for less prizemoney in Penang and Ipoh.

Following Penang Turf Club's (PNTC) lead in reducing prizemoney for Class 4 and 5 — the two classes where the majority of Malaysian horses are categorized — the Perak Turf Club (PRTC) has followed suit.

In the revised PRTC racing programme for its August and September meetings released last week, the advertised prizemoney for Class 4 have been reduced to RM45,000 and Class 5 to RM17,500.

On Apr 1, 2009 the three Malaysian clubs revised the prizemoney upwards to RM55,000 and RM35,000 respectively for Class 4 and 5.

But things have taken a turn for worst in the last couple of years, especially after Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd (PMP), the appointed totalisator agent for racing in Malaysia, withdrew their annual grant to the three clubs.

PMP subsequently relinquished the role of totalisator agent and betting operations are now handled by the three clubs themselves.

PNTC was the first to reduce prizemoney for Class 4 and 5 in June but for the just concluded Sprint Trophy meeting, they offered RM60,000 for Class 4 and RM35,000 to Class 5 in celebration of the club's 150th anniversary.

For PNTC's next meeting on Sep 14, the prizemoney is back to RM45,000 and RM35,000 respectively.