Dr Jim Walker: Structure weakened by top-end obsession

On December 12, the Jockey Club announced a £1.35 million increase in prize-money for the 2026 Derby Festival at Epsom along with a number of other upgrades. Headlining the news was a £500,000 uplift to both the Derby and the Coronation Cup. The media response was generally positive regarding the increased prize-money and prestige of the meeting.

However, speaking entirely from a personal perspective, I was less than thrilled by the Jockey Club's decision. The increase in Derby prize-money cannot be about attracting a bigger field – one of  the industry’s pressing problems – because, on average, the Derby attracts 15 runners each year. The maximum field size is 20. Small field sizes aren’t a problem there. The Coronation Cup is a  different story, with only one of the last ten renewals producing a double-figure field.

This approach has parallels with the 2008 global financial crisis. In response to the problem, interest rates were cut to zero and money was pumped into the system. The bankers that had fueled an unsustainable housing boom were bailed out while returns to ordinary savers and pensioners were pushed to zero.

Horseracing in the UK is similar. Thirty-six per cent of £97.7m in Flat-race prize-money in 2025 went to Class 1 (i.e. Pattern) races. If we assumed that the horses competing in those races were rated 95 or better, less than 10% of the horse population vied for £35m (and a lot of it went to Ireland anyway).

Meanwhile, at the bottom end, owners of the 4,500 horses rated 70 and below – more than half the Flat racehorse population – competed for £22m. Which brings me to Nevin Truesdale.

Mr Truesdale is the ex-CEO of the Jockey Club. In a series of tweets at Christmas, a vision for the future of British horseracing was set out. It was, quite simply, an elitist view for, I suppose, an elitist sport (all of us that own horses are better off than the average worker, that’s for sure).

His blueprint, among other things, includes: more money for the top of the sport; fewer races, especially at the bottom end; and “levy defunding of Class 6 races.” On the last point he is  magnanimous enough to say that if racecourses want to put on Class 6 races, they should “fund them entirely.” Here we go again, more money for the bankers and zero for the people that have scraped together enough in savings to at least put a toe in the water of a sport they love.

Assuming that a horse rated below 60 runs mainly at Class 6 level, that is around 2,650 horses affected and a multiple of that in terms of owners. Meanwhile, at the top of the sport, the 136 horses in the UK that are rated 111 or more compete for almost £20m in prize-money in 36 Group 1 races each year.

The people with the most expensive horses that are running in the most rewarding races are to have their events funded by the people contributing, through betting duty, to the levy. Meanwhile, the owners of horses in the middle and lower tiers – contesting races that contribute much more to the levy itself than those 36 Group 1s each year – are supposed to not only accept a paltry reward for winning one of these contests, but also have to pay to put the elite show on.

Some will argue, as Mr Truesdale does, this will be to the long-term benefit of the sport. Although one of his more bizarre suggestions is “breeding incentives, especially at the top end, to reverse  the foal crop decline.” What’s he going to do – force the best mares to have five-month pregnancies rather than the usual 11?

What the ‘elite sport’ brigade seems to forget is that every building needs foundations. The almost 50% of horses running in Classes 5 and 6 are the foundation of our sport. The owners of these  horses are giving a home to the animals that the top trainers and top owners happily discard after a couple of runs or even a few training gallops that suggest they are sub-par. Without a strong  foundation, the whole house will fall down.

The Premier League, which Mr Truesdale wishes to emulate in racing, ensures the supply of future talent by funding lower leagues. That is smart thinking. If the Jockey Club had looked at the  bigger picture and announced half a million pounds in enhanced prize-money for Classes 4, 5 and 6 across its venues – a material difference to keep small owners in the sport – I would have been cheering louder than anyone.