Far away in a parallel universe, British racing is enjoying millions of extra pounds in prize-money, funded by a consortium that includes some of the biggest players in the sport, whose successful collaboration was achieved in double-quick time.
It sounds fanciful, yet this is no work of fiction – high-value development races are taking place in the here and now, just one of the incentive and bonus schemes in operation aiming to stimulate both ownership and breeding on these shores.
In 2023, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) programmed a series of 63 races for two- and three-year-olds, financed by its Development Fund, the Levy Board and breeding powerhouses Juddmonte and Darley, that offered significantly enhanced prize-money, with host racecourses ‘match-funding’ contributions.
The series was designed to cover all bases – as well as two-year-old open maiden and novice races, two-year-old restricted maiden and novice races would cater for more economically-bred runners, with three-year-old maiden and novice races looking after later-maturing and staying types.
Staging these valuable contests for horses at the beginning of their careers would not only provide a financial incentive to owners, but also support the longer-term objectives of boosting the domestic breeding industry and ensuring more high-class young horses bred in Britain are retained to race in the country.
This year saw the British European Breeders’ Fund (EBF), which for many years had funded a series of ‘super maidens’, including the Convivial at York, come on board along with bloodstock auctioneer Tattersalls. The series has grown to 85 races, each worth £30,000 or £40,000, creating a total prize fund of £3.2 million.
With many owners stocking up on next year’s two-year-olds at the autumn yearling sales, the message is clear – there is plenty of prize-money available in development races, which will continue in 2025.
“These races offer a chance for owners to get a really good return on their investment, whether they have produced homebreds or purchased at the sales,” says Kerry Murphy, Chief Executive of the EBF (left), which contributes over £2m each year to prize-money, including for its sire and dam restricted staying race series.
“It is vital we make owners aware that there is good prize-money on offer here – this collaboration from the bloodstock industry is a real positive.”
She continues: “The negativity around our prize-money has become something of a theme. We felt that if there was a whole series of races from spring through to autumn, then it would go a long way to answering that narrative.
“With these races, we want winning owners to come away really happy and satisfied that they feel like they’re getting some tangible prize-money for their horses.”
Jimmy George, Tattersalls Marketing Director, concurs. “These races are great opportunities for racehorse owners,” he says. “Providing prize-money at maiden and novice level, where it is most important, makes Britain more than competitive with its European counterparts.
“Even on a global scale, the amount being won compares favourably with jurisdictions which people regard as the ‘poster boys’ of prize-money.”
Tattersalls has its own incentive scheme, the £25,000 Book 1 Bonus, available to graduates of its premier October yearling auction that go on to win a maiden or novice race in Britain (Class 2-4) or open maiden in Ireland as a two-year-old.
The cost to enter the Tattersalls Book 1 Bonus scheme is £2,000, paid by the owner, with take-up at around 90% for horses in training in Britain and Ireland.
So far, over £9.5m has been paid out in bonuses by Tattersalls, and George feels the focus on rewarding young horses is the right move for British racing.
He explains: “The thinking with the Book 1 Bonus was that the first cheque received by a racehorse owner is almost the most important.
“You’ve bought you shiny new yearling for 50,000 guineas – the trainer’s told you it’s a nice horse – then you win your maiden or novice only to pick up £5,000. That might have been at a Group 1 racecourse.
“But if that £5,000 becomes £30,000 – that’s a massive statement and the sort of thing a racehorse owner can really get excited about. They can then pay a year’s training fees, or thereabouts, with that one win.
“The same ethos is driving the high-value development races and the Great British Bonus.”
The Great British Bonus (GBB), launched by the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association in 2020 and funded by the Levy Board and through registration fees, has so far paid out over £15.5m to successful connections.
Designed to boost the appeal of British-bred fillies and mares, including those sent to the sales, the scheme, open to all filly foals born in Britain, offers core bonuses of up to £20,000 per race.
There are two entry levels: 100% GBB fillies, sired by stallions based in Britain at the time of covering, and 50% GBB fillies, sired by stallions standing anywhere else in the world.
Bonuses are distributed across the board, with 80% shared by the racing element (65% owner, 7.5% trainer, 5% jockey and 2.5% stable staff) and 20% to the breeder(s).
More than 3,000 races per year – maiden, novice and conditions contests – are GBB eligible, though the full bonuses apply solely to fillies-only races. Fillies can win multiple bonuses up to £100,000 if they are 100% British-bred.
Last year, Adaay In Devon, trained by Rod Millman for Horniwinks Racing Syndicate, became the first Flat filly to land four bonuses, earning her delighted connections £80,000.
GBB aimed to change attitudes towards buying fillies, and it’s clearly working as demand for GBB-registered fillies and mares in the sales ring has resulted in an increase in the prices of Flat-bred fillies of 16% – halving the difference that existed between the colt and filly value – and an even bigger increase for NH fillies that are offered for sale.
A recent extension to the scheme, GBB Plus, will incentivise and reward middle-distance and staying fillies, along with chasing mares, boosting the potential return up to £40,000.
“GBB has been a fantastic innovation for the industry – I do believe it encourages breeders to choose British-based stallions,” says Julian Dollar, Stud Director at Newsells Park Stud, which stands stallions Nathaniel, Without Parole and A’Ali.
“We are keen to see the proposed extension rolled out. Britain has an illustrious history for breeding great middle-distance horses, but recent trends have seen the commercial market turn away from yearlings that need a bit more time, or a longer trip, leaving farms like ours, which not only produce these types of horses but also stand two superb stallions who won over a mile, finding it more challenging to get support.
“I have no doubt that this new extension to the GBB scheme will both drive additional traffic to our consignments at the sales and also mares to our stallions.”
Looking at the gamut of bonuses available, it would be possible for a GBB-eligible filly sold at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale to win a development race, in the process pocketing upwards of £65,000 in a single race.
Yet in such a scenario, only the development race winnings would be recorded in the official prize-money total on the horse’s race record.
“It seems a lot of this prize-money is unrecognised,” George says. “That’s not helping the sport promote itself or sell the idea of racehorse ownership in Britain.
“Whereas on the France-Galop website, you can see prize-money, premiums and a combined figure – every penny is recognised officially in France.
“I don’t think we are making the most of what we have and perhaps a conversation should start where we look at ways in which we can pull all these strands together.”
All-weather riches
While the industry is focused on boosting rewards for horses in the early part of their careers, excellent opportunities for older horses and handicappers exist on the all-weather when the turf season is over.
The Arena Racing Company (ARC) £1 million All-Weather Bonus Scheme returns for a third season, with races staged over the winter and running up to Good Friday 2025.
Horses racing across ARC’s four all-weather racecourses – Lingfield, Newcastle, Southwell and Wolverhampton – will compete for a range of bonus prizes, including five Horse of the Month competitions and the overall Horse of the Year title, which carries a first prize of £100,000.
Runners accrue points for their finishing positions in the first three runs in each month at an ARC all-weather track, up to a total of 15 qualifying runs across the season. The bonus scheme will include all races across the four ARC all-weather racecourses from Tuesday, October 22 to Good Friday, April 18, 2025, including the valuable All-Weather Championships Finals and Vase fixtures at Newcastle and Lingfield.
The five Horse of the Month competitions will operate in October/November, December, January, February, and March/April. The January competition will join February and March/April in offering £70,000 worth of prizes to the top three horses.
In addition, there are bonuses for the stables associated with the horses successful in each of the five Horse of the Month competitions, plus cash prizes for the top jockey and apprentice jockey (by wins) at each of ARC’s four all-weather racecourses over the season.
Mark Spincer, Managing Director of ARC’s Racing Division, said: “We are delighted to confirm the third running of the £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus Scheme this winter.
“The competition proved incredibly popular in years one and two, and we were really pleased with the level of engagement from owners and trainers across the country. We are looking forward to getting underway again in October and seeing who will come out on top come the end of the season.”
‘We targeted the race – it made a huge difference’
Stephen Antram had owned shares in horses for 25 years, on and off, but hadn’t had a winner until this June when two-year-old Caburn scored on his debut in a restricted novice development race at Salisbury, bagging £15,462 in the process.
Caburn, who is co-owned with Sue Lancaster, Charles Pemberton and Michael Harrod, subsequently took the Weatherbys Super Sprint – and with it a first prize of £128,907 – before finishing fifth in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes at York.
Antram says: “The first win made a huge difference. We did target the race because of the prize-money on offer – it was all part of the plan.
“Although Salisbury is a fair distance, it was the right trip and compared to other races it was a huge pot.
“It’s expensive to have horses – I’ve got five in training now – so balancing the books is really important.”
Antram has used some of the prize-money won with Caburn, based with up-and-coming trainer Jack Jones in Newmarket, to reinvest at the sales, where he is targeting GBB-qualified fillies.
“Recently I bought a yearling at Doncaster,” he explains. “I’ve also kept my foal – she didn’t make the right price, so I’ve retained her as she is GBB-qualified. I’m happy to race her. I’m also going to buy some fillies and target the GBB bonuses.
“These bonuses really are making a massive difference – without them you’d definitely have to ease off in terms of the number of horses you have.
“I’m not in racing to make a profit, I just want to cover the costs, or get close to covering the costs as it’s a hobby.
“The bonus we won with Caburn – that kick-started everything. If he hadn’t have won so much money, I wouldn’t have bought my Times Test colt at Doncaster.
“These bonuses and initiatives are great. It’s so important for racing, especially for small owners.”
