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Racing Victoria has made some changes to its owners and breeders concept.

Victoria's owners and breeders concept has been reshaped ahead of the new racing season with the program to be split into four categories.

Victorian Owners and Breeders Incentive Scheme (VOBIS), which offers more than $30 million in prizemoney, bonuses and vouchers, will now be made up of VOBIS Silver, VOBIS Gold, VOBIS Platinum and VOBIS Sires.

VOBIS Silver will be the foundation of the scheme with connections of eligible horses given the opportunity to upgrade to VOBIS Gold and VOBIS Platinum for more lucrative rewards.

Racing Victoria's executive general manager of racing Matt Welsh said the changes would make for a more defined pathway for eligible horses.

"The VOBIS program is the richest owners' and breeders' incentive scheme in the nation offering more than $30 million in prizemoney, bonuses and vouchers this season," Welsh said.

"VOBIS has been a valuable part of Victoria's racing and breeding industries for nearly 30 years, and it will enter the 2023-24 racing and breeding seasons with a new and simplified look.

"There's now a much clearer pathway from VOBIS Silver onto VOBIS Gold and VOBIS Platinum with greater rewards available for those who race the progeny of a VOBIS Sire and thus support the Victorian breeding industry.

"The revamped VOBIS program will continue to incentivise new and existing investment in the Victorian breeding industry, and reward those who breed, buy, own and race in Victoria."

There is a three-tiered eligibility criteria for VOBIS with horses who are either; 1) sired by a stallion based in Victoria; 2) from a mare who was served by a stallion who stood in Victoria during the following year's breeding season or 3) boasting majority by Victorian-based breeders at the time of its birth.

The four categories of VOBIS are:

VOBIS Silver

• VOBIS Silver is the base program of VOBIS, with all nominated horses eligible to compete for more than $13 million in bonuses each season in Victoria.
• VOBIS Silver replaces Super VOBIS and retains all the great features. A summary of the scheme is as follows:
•  All two-year-old and three-year-old TAB races in Victoria will carry a VOBIS Silver bonus – Saturday metropolitan $30,000, midweek metropolitan $15,000, country $12,000;
• All country TAB maidens at 2000m or further will carry a VOBIS Silver bonus of $12,000;
• 840 VOBIS Silver races are programmed each season;
•  A total of $13 million in VOBIS Silver bonuses are on offer annually.

VOBIS Gold

Once nominated to VOBIS Silver, a horse can then be upgraded to VOBIS Gold which offers additional bonuses for the duration of its racing career:

• More than $5 million in VOBIS Gold bonuses are offered annually with a $20,000 bonus assigned to a minimum of 250 races;
•  VOBIS Gold bonuses are offered across all age groups, not just two and three-year-olds;
•  The VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series is worth in excess of $3.38 million and includes 17 exclusive feature races.

VOBIS Platinum

The highest tier of the program, VOBIS Platinum is exclusive to VOBIS Sires progeny who have been upgraded, with horses graduating from VOBIS Silver to VOBIS Platinum upon upgrading.

VOBIS Platinum horses are eligible for all the benefits of VOBIS Silver and VOBIS Gold, plus two exclusive VOBIS Sires races and $7.5 million in VOBIS Platinum vouchers as follows:

• The $1 million The Showdown (2YO) and the $500,000 VOBIS Sires Guineas (3YO) are exclusive to horses nominated to the VOBIS Platinum program; 
• VOBIS Platinum vouchers (formerly VOBIS Sires Boost) of $30,000 are offered exclusively for VOBIS Sires progeny on each of the 250 VOBIS Gold races (on top of the $20,000 cash bonus). The VOBIS Platinum vouchers can be redeemed at eligible sales, used to offset the cost of a VOBIS Sires stallion service fee or with an approved syndicator.

VOBIS Sires

• VOBIS Sires is the dedicated breeding component of the program. Stallions standing at stud farms must be paid up to VOBIS Sires for their progeny to be eligible for VOBIS Platinum.
• The VOBIS Sires program encourages support of Victorian-based stallions and provides investors with the opportunity to share in additional prizemoney, bonuses and vouchers by doing so.