LATEST NEWS...HORSEMEN BACK PRIZE-MONEY PROTECTION
PRIZE-MONEY at the Jockey Club’s 14 racecourses is to be maintained at advertised levels for the rest of 2010, despite a £600,000 cut to the group’s contributions from the Levy Board from August 1.
The prize money shortfall and a drop of £217,000 in Levy Board payments under the fixture incentive schemeare being made up from the Jockey Club’s own resources, which have been bolstered by good results from this year’s festival meetings at Cheltenham, Aintree and Epsom.
The outcome will be that the total prize money coming from Jockey Club coffers in 2010, compared with last year, will go up by £1.2 million to a record £13.7m.
The Jockey Club’s prize money move was welcomed by Horsemen’s Group chief executive Alan Morcombe (pictured), who said: “The Jockey Club has demonstrated its resolve to ensure that horsemen do not continue to bear the brunt of the persistent decline in Levy Board funding. We very much appreciate their swift action.”
Jockey Club chief executive Simon Bazalgette said: “We have taken the decision to increase our investment in 2010 prize money to its greatest ever level at a time when vastly reduced levy contributions have reduced the total amount for racing.
“This is the Jockey Club making the absolute maximum effort for our sport, in very difficult funding circumstances for all.”
In June, the Levy Board slashed £2.1m from its contribution to 2010 prize money from the start of next month, having already trimmed £2.8m in April.
Bazalgette added: “Sadly, there is no way we can fill the void created across the industry by the dramatic drop in levy income, but I hope that by injecting these funds from the bottom line of our business, it will make a big difference when cascaded through the racing community, where our sport supports more than 100,000 livelihoods across the UK.”
Bazalgette said the decision had to be seen as an exceptional measure, given the falling value of media rights’ agreements from 2010-12 with the BBC, which is paying the Jockey Club half the amount of the previous agreement, and Channel 4, whose production costs are partly paid by racing.
He said: “With such uncertainty in the marketplace, it is difficult to look at the picture next year.
“As an industry we need to secure a better commercial arrangement for the right to take bets on racing.
“We must also focus on marketing our thrilling sport better, and showcasing the opportunity racing offers commercial and media partners as Britain’s second-most popular sport.”
22/07/2010