British horse racing gets stake increase

Dec 15, 2021 02:16 pm

LONDON - In a significant boost for British horse racing, prize money at the Jockey Club’s 15 racecourses is set to exceed £58 million (S$105 million) from next year.

The company said on Monday the amount is an increase of more than £12 million on forecast total prize money for this year and a jump of nearly £5 million, compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Competitors will race for a record average prize money of £172,000 per fixture at the Jockey Club’s courses next year, up from £140,000 this year.

“The pandemic has been an incredible challenge that we have had to meet head-on,” said Nevin Truesdale, chief executive of the Jockey Club.

“We still cannot be certain about what 2022 will bring, but we have enough confidence in the popularity of British Racing from our advance sales and all our revenue streams are now fully firing as things stand to plan to fund and distribute a record amount of prize money.”

The Jockey Club will stage 338 fixtures from a total of 1,482 across British racing next year. - REUTERS