Never out of the headlines and blamed for the sport's issues - but just what is the truth about prize-money in British racing?

Prize-money in British racing rarely seems to be out of the headlines and is blamed for many of the sport’s issues, as was the case again this week when Ascot’s director of racing Nick Smith put the course’s difficulties in attracting international stars to the royal meeting down to the widening gulf between the riches available in Britain and those on offer elsewhere in the world. But what’s the real story of what has happened in Britain?

The Racing Post has compared total prize-money in British racing against the rate of inflation going back to the year 2000, painting a picture of how the sport has fared financially this century and comparing its current financial state to previous years.

In a stark illustration of the current challenges facing the sport, a modest absolute increase in prize-money last year combined with still high inflation meant that 2023 saw a fall in total prize-money of seven per cent in real terms, the biggest inflation-adjusted drop in more than a decade bar the Covid-affected year of 2020. Jump racing was hit particularly hard, dropping a colossal 13.4 per cent, against 3.6 per cent on the Flat. That means total prize-money in British racing has now fallen 3.9 per cent behind inflation over the last five years.