Record prize-money in Britain in 2025 as 3.5 per cent rise produces total of £194.7 million

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Prize-money on Britain's racecourses rose 3.5 per cent year-on-year in 2025, with a confirmed total of £194.7 million.

Executive contribution from racecourses accounted for 53 per cent of all prize-money at £103.3m, an increase of 2.6 per cent on 2024. 

The Horse Racing Levy Board also upped its contribution through a variety of schemes – augmented by a £1.3m injection from the BHA Development Fund – while owners paid £26.8m in entry fees, accounting for 14 per cent of all prize-money. 

Announcing the record figures, the Racecourse Association's director of racing, Kevin Walsh, said: "It is encouraging to see that prize-money levels in British racing continue to increase. An annual increase of 3.5 per cent represents strong investment in the sport, and a continued incentive for participants to field horses at British racecourses.

“We have seen sustained growth metrics which are important to racecourses across 2025, notably on raceday attendance, despite the ongoing financial challenges facing all stakeholders.

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"It is imperative that we maintain this positive momentum and prize-money levels are a clear way for progress to be measured.”

The headline figure of £194.7m excludes some prize-money schemes funded by the Levy Board, including the Great British Bonus (GBB) and the Mares' Scheme, all of which took the increase in the HBLB contribution to £4m, a rise of six per cent which pushed the overall total above the £200m mark. 

The HBLB contributed an extra £2.9m in increased ratecard-plus payments, the per-race mechanism which assigns the Levy Board’s payments to prize-money based on executive contribution from racecourses. 

The Levy Board has budgeted to contribute £77.13m to prize-money in 2026, a £4.4m (six per cent) increase on the initial plan for £72.71m in 2025.  

Levy Board chief executive Alan Delmonte said: "HBLB was very pleased to increase its contribution in 2025 and has committed £4.4m more in 2026”. 

The headline figure of £194.7m paid out across 10,123 races represents an average of £19,229 per race in Britain. 

By way of comparison, total prize-money in Ireland across 2,894 races in 2025 was €70.4m (£61.4m) at an average of £21,216 per race, a figure which will rise to €74.7m in 2026 and with an ambition to reach €85m by 2028. 

Last year France distributed €280.5m (£244.6m) in prize-money and lucrative owners and breeders premiums across 6,834 races, at an average of £35,791 per race.

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