£10 million grassroots injection and record fixture list in 2018

The grassroots of British racing is to receive a near £10 million boost in funding under new proposals for 2018 when the fixture list will feature a record 1,508 meetings.

Next year's schedule is set to be published on Tuesday with the sport's continued emphasis towards staging more evening action to satisfy online betting on racing providing the increase of 11 meetings on the 2017 fixture list.

The BHA has estimated that £9.7m of levy funding is set to be targeted at the mid to lower tiers of the sport with the result that most races in Britain will be run next year with a total race value of at least £6,000.

Racecourses will be able to unlock the extra funding by increasing their own contribution to prize-money. By doing that they will receive extra race incentive prize-money funding as well as accessing what will be British racing's biggest appearance money scheme, with qualifying races offering payments of at least £300 for horses finishing between fifth and eighth place.

BHA chief operating officer Richard Wayman said the sport could not thrive without strong foundations and that the proposals had the support of the Racecourse Association and Horsemen's Group.

"We've seen a decline in horse numbers and owner numbers over the last decade while at the same time we've seen total prize-money going up," he said.

"One of the challenges we've faced over the last few years has been that while total prize-money has been rising, the bottom end of the sport hasn't been seeing very much of it and I don't think it's any coincidence that because of that we've seen this reduction in horse and ownership numbers.

"We are aware the owner of an average horse on the Flat recovers 8p in every pound they spend on their fees, so doing something about that was a key priority for us."

2018 fixture list headlines

1,508 fixtures scheduled, an increase of 11 on the original 2017 list

910 Flat fixtures in 2018, an increase of 14

569 Flat turf fixtures in 2018, down one, with 341 all-weather meetings scheduled, an increase of 15

598 jumps meetings in 2018, down three

1,096 afternoon meetings, down 19, with 412 evening meetings, up 30

Week long break for national hunt racing after the bet365 jump finale at Sandown

The government's levy reforms introduced this spring have enabled the increase which is subject to Levy Board approval, with the proposals based on levy spend on prize-money in 2018 of £57.4m, an increase of £8.05m on 2017.

Efficiencies, including race divisions being funded by racecourses, will allow for the £9.7m investment in the grassroots, while the overall boost to prize-money at lower levels through this package of proposals could reach at least £11m with racecourse expenditure included.

Work is ongoing on other areas of levy spending for 2018 such as training and equine welfare.

As well as providing much-needed extra funds for those operating lower down the sport's pyramid it is hoped appearance money will reduce the proportion of races with fewer than eight runners, which was 36.1 per cent in 2016.

Wayman said: "We are very conscious that at the moment there is a significant minority of our races which fail to attract eight runners which obviously has an impact for a number of our customers.

"The creation of the appearance money scheme is not only a way of getting more money into the grassroots, but is also a way of trying to improve the number of races which attract at least eight runners."

The 2018 fixture list beats the previous largest when 1,506 were scheduled in 2010. While there will be 19 fewer afternoon fixtures there will be 30 more evening meetings.

The majority of the increase in meetings will take place in September and October when the BHA said eliminations from existing races were at their highest. As a result a number of meetings will be run in twilight slots on Mondays during that period.

Wayman said retail betting on racing remained "extremely important" but added that more than 50 per cent of the amount bet on the sport came through digital platforms.

He went on: "We've also got to take into account media rights incomes, racing attendance revenues and also the costs for horsemen of putting on the fixtures.

"So we've been working with colleagues on the Horsemen's Group and the racecourses to look at the structure of the fixture list and, in addition to that, talking with the betting industry about the requirements of their customers.

"As a result we have continued this evolution of the fixture list with more fixtures being staged in the evenings or in twilight sessions."

Wayman added: "The fixture list is broadly the same size as in 2017 and the data and trends among the horse population make us confident that the marginal targeted growth can be sustained."

The 2018 fixture list will feature a week long break for jumps racing after the bet365-sponsored finale at Sandown, with the new season starting the following Saturday at Uttoxeter.

The BHA will also bid to strengthen Sunday racing with an incentive fund offering support for the staging of a fixture worth at least £70,000.

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