Juddmonte to be worth record £1m after £100,000 added

The Juddmonte International, the jewel at the centre of York's prestigious Ebor meeting, will be worth £1 million for the first time this year.

York has also upped prize-money by £10,000 for the Darley Yorkshire Oaks and Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes, with both now worth £350,000, while the Betfred Ebor is up £5,000 to £285,000.

Already rated the best race in Britain on international rankings, the Juddmonte International has been won by some of the biggest names in the sport with the likes of Frankel, Sea The Stars, Australia and Postponed triumphing in recent seasons.

In boosting prize-money by £100,000, York is aiming to continue to attract the star names for the contest, which will be run on August 23 this year.

Teddy Grimthorpe, York chairman and racing manager for Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms, said: "Attracting the best horses to run in competitive races on the Knavesmire is what we are all about; so I am pleased that the unstinting support from long standing sponsors has allowed us to increase prize-money for our feature races again this year.

"The Juddmonte International will reach a notable landmark demonstrating the generous support of Prince Khalid for a race that I know he cherishes."

The Juddmonte International had also received a boost of £50,000 last year as part of a wider prize-money increase across the whole of the Ebor meeting. No race at the four-day fixture has prize-money of less than £60,000.

World Ranking

The increase in prize-money takes the Juddmonte International up to joint-fourth in the rankings for richest races in Britain alongside the Qatar Sussex Stakes, Qipco Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Randox Health Grand National.

The Investec Derby (£1.5m), Qipco Champion Stakes (£1.3m) and Qipco King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (£1.15m) are the only three races worth more than £1m.

However, in terms of the world the race lags well behind. The Pegasus World Cup, which was run for the first time last month, is worth $12m (£9.56m), with the $10m (£7.98) Dubai World Cup and The Everest, worth A$10m (£6.12m), the top three races.

1 Pegasus World Cup – $12m (£9.5m/€11.2m), Gulfstream Park, USA

2 Dubai World Cup – $10m (£7.9m/€9.3m), Meydan, UAE

3 The Everest – $A10m (£6m/€7m), Randwick, Australia

4 Dubai Turf - $6m (£4.8m/€5.65m), Meydan, UAE

= Dubai Sheema Classic - $6m (£4.8m/€5.65m), Meydan, UAE

= Breeders’ Cup Classic - $6m (£4.8m/€5.65m), different tracks in North America

7 Japan Cup - Y648m (£4.5m/€5.3m), Tokyo, Japan

= Arima Kinen - Y648m (£4.5m/€5.3m), Nakayama, Japan

9 Arc - €5m (£4.3m), Longchamp, France (at Chantilly again this year)

10 Melbourne Cup - $A6.2m (£3.7m/€4.4m), Flemington, Australia

*As of Feb 1, 2017 and at current exchange rates