Bryan Mayoh on a Great Bonus for British breeding

As well as being co-breeder of Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Sizing John, TBA board member Dr Bryan Mayoh was the prime architect of the Great British Bonus, first presenting an outline of the scheme at a TBA General Meeting in 2018. With GBB having paid out more than £500,000 in prizes to British-bred horses in its first ten weeks of operation, he reflects on the story so far and how it might develop.

Why was the scheme set up and why is it so important?

Economic impact studies carried out for the TBA in 2014 and 2018 by leading management consultancy PwC revealed increasingly serious problems within British breeding, with most breeders operating at a loss and the industry highly dependent on a small number of major studs.

Around half the horses racing on the Flat in this country, and over two-thirds of those over jumps, were bred abroad. With the uncertainty caused by Brexit and the 2021 EU Animal Health Law, this situation put the future well-being of British racing in jeopardy; with the impact of Covid-19 it is even more so.

Action was needed to encourage owners and trainers to purchase GB-bred animals at sales, thereby improving the financial outlook for their breeders; to persuade breeders to race more of their own fillies to test them as future broodmares; and to incentivise the use of British stallions. Since GBB does all these things it is a great bonus for British breeders.

Unlike the French premium scheme, GBB awards prizes only to fillies. Why is this?

The single biggest problem facing breeders is the much lower demand for fillies and mares at all but the top levels. I know all about this problem; it is probably the only thing that all jumps breeders agree about!

So the initial priority had to be to use potential funds to persuade more people to buy and race GB-bred fillies, which the prospect of £20,000 bonuses (with no limitation on the number won) surely does.

Just how is GBB funded?

Around 30 per cent of the prizes are funded by nominations paid by breeders and the owners of fillies as yearlings and two-year-olds (Flat) or three-year-olds (jumps). Without this element of self-funding it would not be possible to pay such attractive prizes – and certainly not the breeders’ prizes that are an important element of the scheme.

British-bred mare Lady Bowes winning a GBB event at Perth earlier this monthCredit: Grossick Racing

The additional 70 per cent comes from the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB). Effectively this is ‘prize-money paid in a different way’, so HBLB funds go to owners, trainers, jockeys and stable staff just as they would for other prize-money - but in such a way as to support the long-term future of British racing by ensuring a viable breeding industry. Ultimately, everyone wins.

Some have suggested that the scheme is ‘anti-Irish’. How do you respond to this?

Funnily enough, I have never heard the French premium scheme, which is a major asset to that country’s breeding and racing industries, described as ‘anti-British’ or 'anti-Irish’, because it isn’t - it is pro-French.

This scheme isn’t ‘anti-anyone’ either; it uses a small proportion of the funds raised by a levy on bets by British-based punters on British races for purposes for which the levy was established – the improvement of racing and breeding.

How has GBB been going so far? Has the industry been enthusiastic about it?

Launching a new scheme can be a slow burn but, since GBB prizes are paid to British-bred fillies nominated to Plus 10 and MOPS, GBB has got off to a flying start.

Over £500,000 of prizes have already been won, and this will reach over £1 million by year-end. While it is great to hear fellow breeders expressing strong support for the scheme, I have also been encouraged by the questions and complaints!

Many of the questions have come from trainers in regard to whether particular fillies are eligible for GBB and are they entitled to 100 per cent prize levels (GB-bred, GB-sired) or 50 per cent (GB-bred, non GB-sired).

The complaints have been such as, 'Why is my filly excluded just because she was born abroad when the mare was visiting a foreign stallion?' (Answer: It’s the Great British Bonus - the clue’s in the name) or, 'Why must I use a British jumps stallion when there are none I like?' (Answer: You don’t have to, it’s your choice; if you think you’re more likely to breed a winner by using a foreign sire then a 50 per cent bonus is better than none - but by incentivising people to use British-based sires we expect to see more of them in the future.)

The reason why these questions and complaints are encouraging is that they show GBB matters – to trainers, owners and breeders alike, so the scheme is already achieving the traction we want it to have.

How do people register, and when?

All 2018 British-bred fillies nominated to Plus 10, and MOPS-nominated fillies for crops up to and including 2018, are already fully registered to GBB. Nominations are due now for Flat and National Hunt fillies from 2019, although the foal stage is free for TBA members (and has already been activated for 2019 fillies previously nominated to MOPS).

So - make sure any 2019 GB-bred fillies you own are nominated to the foal and yearling stages by August 31, whether you bred these or purchased them.

It will cost just £200 for each one owned by a TBA member and you could be repaid many times over, both by the increased price if you sell the filly as a potential racehorse or by the ten per cent of prizes that go to yearling nominators.

If you’re not in, you can’t win - and neither can anyone considering buying the horse from you. All you will be able to do is think of what might have been whenever your filly wins a GBB race. Already over £100,000 of GBB/Plus 10 prizes have gone unclaimed because the winning fillies weren’t nominated. Don’t let it happen to you with GBB - register via .

Is there anything else in store for GBB in the future?

It is highly likely that economic damage caused by Covid-19 will adversely affect racehorse ownership. This will swiftly impact prices of young stock and in turn translate into a serious fall in foal production, as happened after the financial crisis of 2008.

By the time the economy recovers, stimulating increased demand for thoroughbreds, there will be far too few foals to satisfy the needs of the racing programme. We won’t be able to import more horses from abroad because other countries will have the same problem.

So to protect British racing long-term we must support British breeding short-term. Enhancements to GBB could be a key means of doing this.

Have any of the prize winners so far impressed you, and do any of your horses have chances to win?

Since I produced the cash-flow budget for GBB I have had mixed feelings about the results, wanting winners to promote the scheme (especially those owned by small owner-breeders or syndicates, or with trainers willing to wax lyrical about its benefits), but not so many that it bursts the budget.

So I must admit that sometimes I urge on non-qualified horses against GBB-nominated ones whose owners don’t need the money!

Anythingforlove is a half-sister to Bryan Mayoh's Gold Cup hero Sizing JohnCredit: Caroline Norris

As regards our own horses, we have leased out a filly named Anythingforlove, who won two pre-GBB bumpers and will next target three mares' novice hurdles and two mares' chases in an attempt to land a handy £100,000 of bonuses (so no pressure, Mr Snowden).

We also have a filly named Comeflywithme that we expect to target GBB prizes. Should these successes materialise I do not expect to put much effort into worrying about the budget.

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