Horserace Betting Levy Board

The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) has budgeted to contribute £72.7m to prize money for racing fixtures in 2025, an increase of £2.2m on the comparable £70.5m initially budgeted for 2024 and around £13m more than for each of the pre-Covid years of 2018 and 2019.

HBLB will also increase its funding towards the sport’s regulation and integrity activities by £700,000 next year, taking funding in this area to £20.1m.

HBLB also announces today confirmation of £5.7m in awards to various projects and initiatives across the sport within its non-fixture grant programme in the 2024/25 year that commenced in April 2024.  This sum is in addition to the £2.3m that HBLB will be investing in its disease surveillance, veterinary science and education programme, details of which were announced in April 2024. 

The increased prize money funding has been made possible by Levy income of £105m in 2023/24, the highest figure since the reform of the Levy collection remit in April 2017, and HBLB holding an appropriate level of reserves.

Prize Money

HBLB will provide an extra £1.1m for a significant extension of the Great British Bonus (GBB) scheme, of which HBLB remains the majority funder with a planned contribution of £4.66m in 2025. The extension of the scheme gives further valuable targeted support for middle-distance and staying Flat fillies and for steeplechasing mares.

Additional funding of £1m for the Core race programme, delivered through the Ratecard Plus mechanism, is in response to the observed pattern in 2024 of increased prize money at Premier fixtures but lower prize money at Core fixtures.

HBLB Non-Fixture Grant Awards in 2024/25

HBLB supports a range of activities with its non-fixture grant awards. The main expenditure items in 2024/25 support people training and equine welfare.

The £1.9m awarded to the two racing schools (British Racing School (BRS) and National Horseracing College (NHC)) supports the training of future stable staff and the delivery of apprenticeships in the workplace. In addition, the funding supports the Jockey Coaching Programme (JCP) hosted at the BRS and the Racing Staff Development Programme (RSDP) at the NHC. The JCP provides training to all apprentice and conditional jockeys until one year post claiming status whilst the RSDP offers work-based training to develop the skills of those already in the horseracing industry.

More than £700,000 supports the work of the Horse Welfare Board which drives the continuous improvement of horse welfare. Key workstreams have included National Racehorse Week and the HorsePWR campaign. HorsePWR aims to establish a central platform dedicated to the racehorse for all information related to welfare for use by consumers, opinion leaders and racing participants.

A list of the grants other than for prize money and regulation is below. Grants are made with formal conditions and subject to the monitoring and reporting requirements agreed between HBLB and the recipient.

Alan Delmonte, Chief Executive of HBLB, said:

“HBLB is pleased to be able to increase its prize money and regulatory funding next year. HBLB remains the main funder of the Great British Bonus (GBB) and has supported the scheme’s extension. Additional funding for the Core racing programme recognises the effect of the changes made to distribution policies in 2024 that prioritised the Premier programme.

“More broadly, the range and depth of the funding to areas other than towards fixtures reflects how much work is supported by the Levy across the key areas in the sport. These grants enable a substantial number of activities to take place for the benefit of racing, the people within the sport and for the horse.

“As far as the wider picture is concerned, betting turnover on British racing has continued to decline into 2024/25. While bookmakers’ operating margins have exceeded recent comparative levels in the last two financial years, so as to provide mitigation against falling turnover, this has not been the case in the current financial year to date, with indicative gross win, and therefore Levy, below that of 2023/24. The Board has therefore taken a necessarily tempered approach in its 2025 budget decisions.  However, the Board has prudently budgeted and the increases for 2025 are made possible due to having sufficient reserves.

“The Board will review, in May 2025, the expected outturn of Levy yield for the year ended 31 March 2025 and HBLB’s anticipated prize money expenditure to the end of the period of fixtures covered by Programme Book 2, which is 22 June. On the assumption that there are no material reasons to adjust plans, the Board will maintain its planned contribution for the remainder of 2025, leading to an estimated total prize money contribution for the year of around £72.7m.”

Notes on Prize Money and Raceday Services

1. The Board agreed the 2025 prize money contribution following consideration of a joint proposal submitted by Racing organisations (BHA, Thoroughbred Group and RCA) and then taking into account 2023/24 Levy yield and the latest data for 2024/25.
2. In 2024, HBLB expects to contribute around £67.5m to prize money, comprising £55.7m Ratecard Plus, £4.0m Incremental Prize Money, £3.5m Great British Bonus, £0.7m Sunday Appearance Scheme, £1.2m Divided Race Fund, £1.3m Winter Jump Fund and £1.0m Programme Protection Payments.  The £67.5m represents around £3m less from the Ratecard Plus mechanism than originally budgeted, reflecting fixture abandonments and that racecourses’ own contribution has been less than forecast.
3. In 2025, HBLB expects to contribute around £72.7m to prize money, comprising £60.0m Ratecard Plus, £3.85m Incremental Prize Money, £4.66m Great British Bonus, £0.75m Sunday Appearance Scheme, £1.2m Divided Race Fund, £1.3m Winter Jump Fund and £1.0m Programme Protection Payments.
4. The main component of the prize money budget is the Ratecard Plus system (£60.0m), the same system which was introduced in full from 2022. Under this system, the sum that a racecourse receives from HBLB for each race is linked directly to the racecourse’s own contribution to that race.  Every race class and type has its own calculation formula, which has been developed by the BHA in consultation with its stakeholders. HBLB pays a proportion of the Minimum Value and then a percentage of prize money contributed by the racecourse above that sum, up to a specified level.
5. The rate card allocation to prize money is intended to split HBLB funding c. 60% to Flat racing and c. 40% to Jumping in accordance with the turnover generated by each code in recent years. This split will be reviewed prior to 2026 to take account of recent outturns and other relevant factors.
6. The Incremental Prize Money scheme is held at £3.85m; this represents a significant provision of support to lower-class races and will be administered via a per-race payment mechanism. The Sunday Appearance Scheme (£0.75m) has been reduced by £0.15m in line with take-up rates. These two areas of spend comprise £4.6m (2024: £4.75m).
7. The Great British Bonus Scheme will receive £4.66m, increased from £3.5m in 2024, while the Divided Race Fund will be budgeted at £1.2m (2024: £1.0m) in the expectation of an increase in divisions in 2025.
8. As per 2024, a sum of £1.3m (the Winter Jump Fund) has also been allocated for additional prize money for certain January to March Jump fixtures. For ease of comparison with earlier years, the Winter Jump Fund sum is included in the initially budgeted £70.5m for 2024 and the £72.7m for 2025 referred to above.
9. The Programme Protection Payments of £1.0m support around 40 fixtures which will, as per 2024, take place at a different time and/or day from their previous position. This scheme has been modified from the 2024 version and will conclude at the end of 2025.
10. Raceday Services Grants towards regulation and integrity costs will continue to be provided to all HBLB Criteria fixtures, with the budget for 2025 increased by £0.7m to £20.1m (2024: £19.4m).
11. Given the current position regarding betting performance, and as the Ratecard Plus mechanism provides funds on a sliding scale based on how much racecourses contribute, the Board will review its financial position in May 2025.

For further information please contact HBLB Chief Executive Alan Delmonte on 07931 701536 or Anne-Marie Hogan, Head of Grants, at annemarie.hogan@hblb.org.uk.