Furious owners slam funding and call prize-money redistribution 'nonsense'

Owners and racing professionals lined up to express their despair at inadequate funding and the bungled Industry Ownership Strategy (IOS) on Friday, with one trainer saying the redistribution of prize-money announced on Thursday looked like "rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic".

Agitation has been increasing among owners and racing professionals following the near absence of success for British-trained horses at last week's Cheltenham Festival, with worries for the sport's direction expanding after redistribution of prize-money announcements and revelations about where and how effectively £1.25 million in levy funds were spent on the ROA-led IOS.

Prominent owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen, whose Stradivarius will attempt to win the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot for a fourth time this summer, has been a vocal critic of prize-money in Britain.