'We're carrying the pain on more than one front' - grassroots prize-money set to suffer as a result of premier racing says Thirsk boss

The grassroots of British racing have been warned to get ready for the "pain" of premierisation amid plans for almost £2 million in prize-money to be re-routed from the lower to the upper tier of the sport as part of a radical restructuring.

Thirsk chief executive James Sanderson calculates that prize-money will fall by "£500 or £600 a race" at the core courses not staging premier fixtures.

BHA chief operating officer Richard Wayman has said that funding the two-year trial of premier fixtures with enhanced purses in a protected window, aimed at making the best races and meetings more readily identifiable and marketable, will "involve the redistribution of money from elsewhere."