New Rule handicap rule

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has today announced a new Rule to prevent horses from running in a handicap race from 15lbs or more out of the handicap.

The change, which comes into effect in races from Wednesday 7 January 2026, will apply across all Flat and Jump handicap races to help ensure horses are competing against rivals of similar ability and not running too far out of their own grade.

While minimum rating requirements exist for certain higher-profile contests, including Group and Grade 1 races and the Grand National, there is currently no wider limit on how far out of a handicap a horse can be.

Supported by the BHA’s Racing Committee and the industry’s Equine Safety Group, the new 15lbs limit is informed by data on the performance of horses running out of the handicap in both Flat and Jump races. This evidence shows that in general, the further out of the handicap a horse runs, the fewer rivals they beat, the greater the distance they are beaten and the less likely they are to complete the race.

The sport’s Racing Risk Model, which is based on data spanning 14 years, has also identified heightened risk when Jump horses in particular are running at greater pace out of their grade and against significantly more highly rated opposition.

Richard Wayman, Director of Racing at the BHA, said:

“It is pretty unusual for horses to run from a very long way out of the handicap but when they do, as you would expect, they generally struggle to be competitive. In the case of Jump racing in particular, this can create heightened risk.

"Following consultation across the sport, we felt it would be sensible and responsible to introduce a limit that would avoid the most extreme cases of horses racing out of their own grade in handicaps.

“We acknowledge that as a result of this change there will be a handful of horses, the very lowest rated in training, who may struggle to qualify for handicaps and so we will issue guidance to trainers about where such horses can still look for opportunities.

“Having initially set the limit at 15lbs, we will monitor this over the next 12 months to consider whether or not it has been set at the right level, taking into account any further data that tells us more about the impact of introducing such a limit for the first time.”