'It's got to be resolved' - trainers concerned by poor prize-money as media rights row grabs attention at Chepstow

The trainer of a horse who won less than £6,000 for two wins this summer has slammed "dire" prize-money at the bottom-level and warned about the impact of a collapse at the lower end of the sport as a media rights row dominated the mood at Chepstow.

Christopher Mason expressed his concern for the health of bottom-tier racing after Gilt Edge collected winnings of £2,983.38 for landing the 7f handicap under Gina Mangan. The horse earned the same pot for a victory at Lingfield, a track also owned by racecourse group Arena Racing Company (Arc), in June.

Paddy Power and Sky Bet only offered betting at starting price 15 minutes before each of the six races on the card, made up of three Class 5 and three Class 6 contests, after the firms' parent company Flutter Entertainment reopened its row with Arc over media rights payments. Flutter has argued media rights costs are making horseracing unprofitable as a product.

Local handler Mason was training his fourth winner of the campaign and called on the two parties to come together and resolve the poor offering for those competing at the bottom tier of racing.

He said: "It's got to be resolved. You can see the drain of horses at the smaller end. You've got to get money back into the owners' pockets.

"I don't know how they're going to do it. The racecourses want to make a big profit, the bookmakers want to make a profit, but ultimately racehorse owners need to see a return on their investment, and it's a big investment. 

"Prize-money is dire. It really is. They need to get those bigger pots and it has to filter down, even if an owner can finish second or third – that should cover the costs.

"It can't be left to the owner to foot the bill – it'll come back and bite them. Low-grade racing is the bottom brick in the wall, when that goes it all comes down."

The Harry Charlton-trained Niloufar collected £2,983 for his victory in the 1m2f handicap under Trevor Whelan. That takes his career earnings to just over £12,000, having won three times and finished second and fourth from eight starts.

Charlton said: "The midweek stuff is poor and turns off the punters. I find it hard to watch a full afternoon like this and I dare say that's what the punters are thinking. It's not good for the sport.

"I can't find runners for the midweek fixtures because it's full of 0-50, 0-55s and 0-60s with maybe one feature. Racecourses are allowing themselves to go that low with their prize-money by putting on poor-quality races. The more low grade racing, the less prize-money they can put up. It's a bit of a shame." 

Celebrity appearance 

There was rugby royalty on prize-giving duty with Jamie Roberts, Mike Phillips and Jonathan Davies, from Wales' 2012 and 2013 Six Nations-winning team, on track.

Roberts, capped 94 times for Wales, said: "It's my first time at Chepstow but Jonathan won the Welsh National with Potters Corner [in 2019] which was pretty cool. 

"I've been to Ascot and Cheltenham and it's always been good. I think there's a buzz to racing which is pretty cool, it's very different to rugby where it's a long 80 minutes. Here you get that minute or two of a real thrill six or seven times across the day which I really like."

Read this next:

Paddy Power and Sky Bet only offer SP prices on Chepstow's first race as media rights row with Arc continues 

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.