JCR Prize-money to return to pre-pandemic values in Q4
Prize-money at The Jockey Club’s racecourses will return to pre-pandemic levels for the fourth quarter of 2021, British Racing’s largest commercial group has announced.
To achieve this, The Jockey Club will increase its prize money contribution by nearly £1.5 million in the final three months of the year. This will see total prize money at JCR fixtures from October to December boosted from a previous projection of circa £11 million to more than £12.5 million and total prize money for 2021 across its 15 racecourses from more than £44 million to more than £46 million (with all figures subject to abandonments).
The Jockey Club had previously announced total prize money across its fixtures in the second half of the year would be increased to totals within 9% of pre-pandemic levels, but that it would keep the situation under review in case the financial outlook improved further.
Today’s announcement will see increases in prize money values at all levels of the sport. This includes major races across both codes, such as:
Darley Dewhurst Stakes – advertised as £450,000, now £500,000
bet365 Fillies Mile – advertised as £450,000, now £500,000
Together for Racing International Cesarewitch Handicap – advertised as £180,000 now £250,000
The Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes – advertised as £225,000, now £250,000
Paddy Power Gold Cup – advertised as £135,000, now £160,000
Betfair Chase – advertised as £180,000, now £200,000
Becher Chase – advertised as £120,000, now £150,000
Unibet International Hurdle – advertised as £100,000, now £140,000
Caspian Caviar Gold Cup – advertised as £115,000, now £130,000
Ladbrokes King George VI Chase – advertised as £225,000, now £250,000
Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle – advertised as £115,000, now £130,000
While spectator limits have now been lifted at UK sports events, a degree of uncertainty remains, including whether any racegoer restrictions associated with ‘lockdown’ will be reintroduced or deter attendees at any point over the next 12 months, which may impact future values.
Nevin Truesdale, Chief Executive of The Jockey Club, said:
“A big priority for us has been to get to a position in our recovery where we can advertise prize money at pre-pandemic levels as quickly as possible.
“When you add 2020 and our 2021 outlook together, the pandemic will have cost us more than £170 million in lost revenues, so originally it seemed we would need to wait until 2022 to have any chance of making this announcement, but I’m delighted and tremendously proud of the team that we’re able to bring this forward.
“We’re optimistic about the future, but despite today’s announcement we are continuing to operate under uncertainty as a business. This includes whether any restrictions on our operations will be reintroduced or deter racegoers at any point in the remainder of 2021 or into 2022. As such we’ll need to keep planning on a relatively short-term basis for the foreseeable future and contribute the maximum we can back into the sport, including all our areas of investment beyond prize money.
“It’s no secret that we view prize money as vital to the livelihoods of those working in the sport, it provides an important return for racehorse owners and encourages the competitive racing that we all want to enjoy. We’re working hard to drive the sort of underlying growth and commercial success that allows The Jockey Club to continue to increase its contributions to British Racing, which has always been, and will continue to be, our aim.”