Grahame Whateley: racing isn’t facing up to its prize-money responsibilities

Arkle and Supreme-winning owner Grahame Whateley has warned owners will be forced to walk away from the sport in Britain if action is not taken to improve prize-money levels.

Whateley has called for a collective approach to boost race purses and believes middle to lower-scale owners are being most affected, with British prize-money levels in 2020 at their lowest since 2002, although the coronavirus pandemic has hit the sport's finances hard and is a mitigating factor.

Whateley and his wife Diana have accrued £22,839 in prize-money from six winners out of 22 horses, trained by Olly Murphy and Philip Hobbs, to have run in their colours in Britain this term.