Prize-money mechanism does not incentivise racecourses to do the right thing - but here’s a simple solution to fix it

It was the deal that never was. Just days before Rishi Sunak’s shock call for a July 2024 election, an agreement on levy reform was allegedly struck between racing and bookmakers – a breakthrough years in the making, scuppered in a single announcement. With a new Labour government now at the helm, negotiations have been forced back to square one, dragging the sport once more into the bureaucratic quagmire.

But what if there were a far simpler way to change the levy – one that could boost prize-money for owners without years of wrangling or political upheaval?

Annually, around £60 million (which represents more than half of all its annual funding) is distributed by the Levy Board to racecourses through a matched funding system known as Ratecard Plus. In essence, the system is that for each pound of prize-money a course provides for a race, the Levy Board contributes a specific percentage on top, which varies based on factors such as race type, class and, notably, prize-money level.