The club's chief executive officer Neil Bainbridge said the bonus, which would be paid to the winner of the Cranbourne and Caulfield cups, would elevate the local country cup to city status.

"My snapshot of the industry at the moment is that it's the most lucrative bonus available in Australian racing," he said.

"There are bonuses for international racing series, which are significantly more, but ours would be the No 1 bonus in Australian racing.

"The Cranbourne Cup is a $156,000 race and is probably behind the Geelong Cup as the main country race meeting, but the $1 million bonus will take it to city and possibly, group status."

Bainbridge said the bonus system was unique in its short timeframe, and would elevate the status of the Cranbourne Cup to prominence in the spring carnival.

"Unlike other [bonus systems] it will be done and dusted over two weeks, while other bonuses take three months to get to the second leg.

"First prize for the Caulfield Cup is $1.5 million, so the winner of the Cranbourne Cup, if he decides to run in the Caulfield Cup a week later, will all of a sudden be running for $2.5 million."

Bainbridge said the club would "love" to see a locally trained horse become the first to win the bonus.

"There are several good chances. Mick Kent has got Banana Man, who will probably win the country race horse of the year award after winning the Mornington, Ballarat and Colac cups, and coming third in the Ballarat and Adelaide cups. He would be more than likely be set for a campaign to win the bonus."

In 19 years, six Cranbourne Cup winners have started in the Caulfield Cup. The 1998 Cranbourne Cup winner Lisa's Game finished second to Taufan's Melody at Caulfield.

The $1 million bonus is part of a three-year deal with Tabcorp's corporate bookmaking arm, Luxbet.com which will also be the club's principal sponsor for the 2009-10 season, and the naming rights sponsor of this year's Cranbourne Cup in October.