Poor prize-money is pushing Irish racing to the precipice - more than many people realise

For a long time now prize-money has been held up as one of the pillars of Irish racing's success but I don't believe we have much to shout about anymore. Far from it, in fact. I actually think it is a bit of a fallacy these days.

Five years ago, fair enough, but the cost of training has skyrocketed, even more so than the cost of living. If a syndicate or an owner has a horse these days and it is capable of winning races, it should be capable of covering the training fees. It should be funding their enjoyment, but the cost of having that horse in training now has eaten into any surplus that the prize-money might provide. It's simply not as attractive an option now so this is something the authorities need to act upon, and they need to do so quickly.

We often hear of the prize-money purse being increased by a percentage point or two in Horse Racing Ireland's budget – it was two per cent for this year to €69.4 million – but in real terms that is cancelled out. The cost of feed, bedding, fuel, energy and so much more has risen dramatically over the past few years, with some things costing nearly twice as much as they did just a short time ago.