The Grade 2 Peermont Emperors Palace Charity Mile (PEPCM) has become associated with one of the largest charity drives in the South African horse racing industry.
And the good news for this year’s 16 selected charities is that no less than R1-million will be split between them, a massive R450 000 increase from last year’s total donation of R550 000.
The big race will be run on October 31 at Turffontein Racecourse.
The proportion of the R1-m that each charity receives will be decided by the finishing position of the horse that is representing them.
The PEPCM Barrier Draw ceremony to be held on Wednesday, October 21, at Emperor’s Palace, is therefore going to be particularly exciting, while the race itself is likely to be accompanied by much nail-biting and followed by joyous celebrations from the representatives of the winning charity.
The split per finishing position will be as follows:
The winning charity will collect R150 000, the second prize is worth R100 000, third R80 000, fourth R70 000 and then R50 000 from fifth position all the way to 16th, ensuring that every charity goes home a winner.
On the day, as usual, each runner in the PEPCM will be publicly represented by a celebrity and a media partner.
The latter tradition has made this race day one of the most popular on the calendar as it adds a lot of glitz and glamour and also gives ordinary members of the public a chance to rub shoulders with famous people whom they usually only ever see on television screens.
The day will also feature two lucrative Sales races, the R2 500 000 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup over 1 400m (Cape Thoroughbred Sales) and the R2 015 000 Bloodstock SA Ready To Run Cup over 1 400m.
There will also be top class horses appearing on the day in races like the Grade 3 R250 000 Graham Beck Stakes over 1 400m, the Grade 3 R250 000 Yellowwood Handicap over 1 800m, the Grade 3 R250 000 Starling Stakes over 1 400m, the Listed R150 000 Golden Loom Handicap over 1 000m and the Listed R150 000 Java Handicap over 2 450m.
The Maidens will also be a part of a big payday as HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco has once again donated some of the prize money for what has become the richest Maiden Plates in the country, the R250 000 Maiden Plate over 1 160m and the R250 000 Maiden Plate over 1 600m.
