Race Planning

WINDSOR SPRINT SERIES

For: 3yo+

Qualification: Horses which are placed in the first six of the qualifying races will qualify for the final. In the event of the abandonment of a qualifier any horse which has been declared to run in that race, or any horse entered to run in that race if the time of abandonment was prior to the declaration stage will be qualified to run in the final.

Finals: Monday 11 August, worth £75,000

BATH SPRINT & STAYERS SERIES

For: 3yo+

Qualification: Horses which start in the qualifying races will qualify for the final. In the event of the abandonment of a qualifier any horse which has been declared to run in that race, or any horse entered to run in that race if the time of abandonment was prior to the declaration stage will be qualified to run in the final. Any horse that is eliminated from a qualifying race will also be eligible.

The BHA has modified the elimination and balloting procedures for this race – a horse will gain protection from elimination by obtaining points throughout the series. Points will be awarded in each qualifier as follows:

• 1^st: 10 points
• 2^nd: 8 points
• 3^rd: 6 points
• 4^th: 4 points
• 5^th: 2 points
• 6^th: 1 point

Frequent runners: Horses that start in three qualifiers at Bath will be awarded 9 points, in addition to any points earned.

In the event of two or more horses being entered for the Final with the same amount of points, the horse allotted the lowest weight will be eliminated first. If two or more such runners have the same weight their position in the elimination sequence will be allocated by random ballot.

Finals: Both Sunday 14 September, worth £35,000

CHEPSTOW MILE SERIES

For: 3yo+

Qualification: Horses which start in the qualifying races will qualify for the final. In the event of the abandonment of a qualifier any horse which has been declared to run in that race, or any horse entered to run in that race if the time of abandonment was prior to the declaration stage will be qualified to run in the final. Any horse that is eliminated from a qualifying race will also be eligible.

The BHA has modified the elimination and balloting procedures for this race – a horse will gain protection from elimination by obtaining points throughout the series. Points will be awarded in each qualifier as follows:

• 1^st: 10 points
• 2^nd: 8 points
• 3^rd: 6 points
• 4^th: 4 points
• 5^th: 2 points
• 6^th: 1 point

Frequent runners: Horses that start in three qualifiers at Bath will be awarded 9 points, in addition to any points earned.

In the event of two or more horses being entered for the Final with the same amount of points, the horse allotted the lowest weight will be eliminated first. If two or more such runners have the same weight their position in the elimination sequence will be allocated by random ballot.

Finals: Monday 25 August worth £35,000

BRIGHTON SPRINT SERIES

For: 3yo+

Qualification: Horses which start in the qualifying races will qualify for the final. In the event of the abandonment of a qualifier any horse which has been declared to run in that race, or any horse entered to run in that race if the time of abandonment was prior to the declaration stage will be qualified to run in the final. Any horse that is eliminated from a qualifying race will also be eligible.

The BHA has modified the elimination and balloting procedures for this race – a horse will gain protection from elimination by obtaining points throughout the series. Points will be awarded in each qualifier as follows:

• 1^st: 10 points
• 2^nd: 8 points
• 3^rd: 6 points
• 4^th: 4 points
• 5^th: 2 points
• 6^th: 1 point

Frequent runners: Horses that start in three qualifiers at Bath will be awarded 9 points, in addition to any points earned.

In the event of two or more horses being entered for the Final with the same amount of points, the horse allotted the lowest weight will be eliminated first. If two or more such runners have the same weight their position in the elimination sequence will be allocated by random ballot.

Finals: Sunday 31 August worth £35,000

For: 4yo+

 Qualification: Horses which have been placed in the first six in qualifiers will be eligible to enter the final. A novice horse shall only be qualified to run in the Final if it has run a minimum of three times in Hurdle Races in Great Britain, Ireland or France in accordance with paragraph 14 of the Weights and Handicapping
Final: Worcester on Friday 26th September.
 

For: Two-Year-Olds with over 170 Restricted Maiden and Novice races, worth up to £30,000 each, act as qualifiers

Qualification: Any EBF eligible horse who finishes in the top six of a qualifier, can enter one of the finals with no early closing restrictions and no staged entry fees.

Finals: Worth £100,000 each for fillies (Goodwood 24 September) and colts and geldings (York 10 October). 

The Great British Bonus (GBB) scheme has now paid out over £25 million in bonuses since launching in 2020. GBB is an industry-wide initiative, with 80% of every bonus flowing directly into the racing sector that’s approx. £16 million to owners, £1,875,000 to trainers, £1,250,000 to jockeys and £625,000 to stable staff (65%, 7.5%, 5% and 2.5% of the total respectively), and 20% to breeders.

The return on investment is strong across the board. In an average GBB-winning race, connections take home £6,105 in prize money - on top of that, the average bonus paid out is £13,607, worth 123% more than the prize money itself. For Flat racing, every £1 invested returns £6.84 to owners and £1.06 to breeders; National Hunt figures are similarly strong, though slightly affected by the inclusion of mares adopted through the NH MOPS scheme, where registration fees weren't charged.

A brochure marking the milestone, with further detail on GBB's impact, is available here: https://issuu.com/cplonegroup/docs/gbb_making_an_impact

For any questions, please contact GBB's Operations Manager, Charlie Newton, at [email protected].

Following the announcement from the BHA, the Great British Bonus (GBB) is delighted to confirm that the scheme will be extended to include National Hunt geldings from 2027 named GBB Gents. The extension has been made possible by additional funding from the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB), with the support of the BHA and the High-Quality Horse Group. 

GBB Gents aims to support British jumps breeding by making geldings more attractive to owners. With £300,000 of funding in place, bonuses will be available in all races currently covered by GBB, with the exception of Class 3 and 4 handicap chases and National Hunt Flat races.

Only geldings qualifying as 100% GBB – those born in GB and by a British-based stallion will be eligible to join the scheme. Bonuses for such horses will be 50 per cent of the equivalent filly or mare bonus, at a maximum of £10,000 per race for qualifying geldings. This value has been agreed in order to ensure the primacy of the existing GBB scheme for fillies and mares. Horses from the 2024 and 2025 foal crops will be able to register retrospectively.

Dave Futter of Yorton Farm Stud said: "Since 2021, GBB has been game-changing for British-bred fillies, making them in-demand and valuable in the sales ring. We're delighted to see that geldings will now be incorporated into the scheme, and we can look forward to next year's store sales, where we and all other British breeders can head to the sale knowing all our homebreds are supported by this fantastic initiative."

TBA trustee and NH Committee member, Colm Donlon said: "We are delighted that geldings will be joining GBB, and we’d like to thank the HBLB for the additional funding that has made this possible. This is a real vote of confidence in British National Hunt breeding and something the industry has been asking for. We know people will be keen to get their horses registered, with a full launch due later in the Autumn." 

GBB geldings will operate on a similar basis to the current scheme, with full rules and registration details to be published in due course.

For: Two-year-olds only

Qualification: Any horse that runs in a qualifier becomes eligible

Final: Carries a prize of £30,000 and will be held on Wednesday, 3 September.

For: See individual qualifiers for conditions

Qualification: Horses that run in any qualifier will be eligible for the final. (Also horses that are declared to run in abandoned qualifiers or entries if the race was abandoned before the declaration stage).

Finals: Nottingham, Thursday 2 October

London Mile and Sprint Series

For: See individual qualifiers for conditions

Qualification: All held at Kempton Park. Horses that run in any qualifier will be eligible for the final. (Also horses that are declared to run in abandoned qualifiers or entries if the race was abandoned before the declaration stage).

Finals: Kempton Park, Saturday 6 September

London Middle Distance Series

For: See individual qualifiers for conditions

Qualification: All held at Kempton Park. Horses that run in any qualifier will be eligible for the final. (Also horses that are declared to run in abandoned qualifiers or entries if the race was abandoned before the declaration stage).

Finals: Kempton Park, Monday 3 November

London Stayers Series

For: See individual qualifiers for conditions

Qualification: All held at Kempton Park. Horses that run in any qualifier will be eligible for the final. (Also horses that are declared to run in abandoned qualifiers or entries if the race was abandoned before the declaration stage).

Finals: Kempton Park, Wednesday 3 December

For: A number of races spread over six Sunday fixtures. £100,000 is on offer to connections of the  first horse to win three races across the Series.

Dates: Musselburgh (April 13th), Newmarket (May 18th), Chelmsford City (June 1st),  Hamilton Park (June 15th), Haydock Park (August 10th) and York (September 7th).

Chelmsford City Racecourse will stage a new Sprint series sponsored by Timeform, with ten qualifiers starting on 2nd October 2025 and culminating on 18th December 2025.

The first qualifier for the Timeform Sprint Series is to be run on Thursday, 2 October.  The Final will be run on Thursday, 18 December and entries will close at noon Friday, 12 December. The Final has a Total Prize Fund of £40,000

Qualification: Horses which were placed in the first six in the qualifiers listed below will be eligible to enter the Series Final, as always, the list of qualified horses can be found on the BHA website.