UK Jockey Club Set to Increase Purses for 2023

The UK Jockey Club will increase prize-money by £1 million for 2023, but has been forced to provide a record contribution due to an "incredibly challenging" financial year.

An executive contribution of £31.1 million will raise overall levels to £59 million next year across the racecourse group's 15 tracks, which includes Cheltenham, Aintree, Newmarket, and Epsom. Total prize money is set to be a new high and is an increase of just under £6 million from pre-pandemic levels.

Yet the Jockey Club's chief executive Nevin Truesdale admits the contribution increase comes after a tricky year financially, with racecourse attendances down and soaring energy prices impacting turnover.

The Jockey Club's contribution will be up £2.7 million from 2022 and is almost double the amount put forward ten years ago. It is described as "essential" to ensuring prize-money growth.

Truesdale said: "Breaking through this £30 million barrier for the first time is a milestone we have been striving for and is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Jockey Club's teams all over the country.

"While it's been challenging to achieve against the backdrop of factors like rising energy prices and the cost of living crisis, both of which continue to impact British racing and our own finances, increasing our own contributions to these record levels has been essential in order to grow overall prize money levels slightly in comparison to 2022."

Further pressures could arise from the imminent release of the government's gambling white paper, with the expectation that proposed affordability checks could hit the sport's finances by as much as £100 million. The Racing Post revealed last week that affordability checks had already resulted in a £40 million hit to the sport's finances.

Truesdale added: "While we continue to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to, and investment in, prize money at all levels of the sport, I'm in no doubt that horseracing will continue to face significant financial challenges in 2023.

"British racing is facing many of the same financial headwinds that continue to affect families, businesses, and other industries and that is making generating revenues to reinvest back into our own sport incredibly challenging. However, we'll continue to do everything we can to drive engagement, grow our fanbase and increase attendance for the good of horseracing as a whole and, in turn, prize money in the future."

The prize money increases announced Dec. 19 are budgeted for the new year, but are also subject to significant economic changes and abandonments.