Sun 21 Jun 2020
The British European Breeders’ Fund (British EBF) have doubled their support for domestic racing during July with over £238,000 in prize money enhancements to the sport agreed this week.
Continued collaboration with the BHA, means 103 races will be run with EBF conditions (before divisions) in July, up from 90 in June. Prize money allocations provided by the British EBF have also increased significantly according to the Class of race. Races for older horses such as the Glasgow Stakes (Listed) will benefit from up to £10,000 of extra prize money (up from £5,000 in June) while two-year-old Listed races can be run at up to £6,000 above BHA minimum value with help from the EBF.
In addition, they have extended their commitment to support divisions of any EBF confined novice or maiden races up to the end of July. To support owners further, the British EBF are sponsoring branded number cloths in all of their feature races. The money charged for this branding opportunity can be up to £500 per race with the fee split between the owners of the runners on each occasion.
The British EBF have maintained full contributions for their races in flagship meetings as well as widening their support to fillies’ handicaps and conditions races in the second month of resumption. The increase in support for July means that EBF races such as those at the Newmarket July Festival and Qatar Goodwood Festival will be run up to £10,000 in excess of minimum value.
Ed Arkell, Goodwood Racecourse commented:
“We are hugely grateful to the British EBF for their longstanding support at the Qatar Goodwood Festival. The prizemoney commitment from the British EBF, especially this year, has been key to allowing us to support prizemoney, considerably above minimum values, for a number of non-Pattern races.”
British EBF Trustee Sam Bullard commented:
“The British EBF supported races have stood out as some of the most valuable since the restart and provided a much-needed stimulus to the middle and lower Classes of races in June. We are delighted to be extending and increasing our support during July and we know that our contributions will continue to make a huge difference to purses during this challenging time for racing.”
“In addition to weight-for-age races, we are now supporting a good selection of fillies’ handicaps and some conditions races. The Fund, generated from stallion income, are very happy to be able to help Epsom and Investec run the Woodcote Conditions Stakes again this year, a race won by Champion Two-Year-Old PINATUBO in 2019.”
Mon 15 Jun 2020
Naas Sun 20 October 2019. Presentation for Foran Equine Irish EBF €120,000 Auction Race Final won by Lustown Baba to The Back Road Syndicate, Willie McCreery and Leigh Roche
Photo.carolinenorris.ie
Irish racing’s largest sponsor, Irish European Breeders’ Fund, have stepped in to further boost prize-money in the Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Series and the new Irish EBF Median Sires Series.
Due to Covid-19 related prize-money cuts, each race in both race series were cut by €1,000, Irish EBF are pleased to supplement the drop in prize-money and restore the value of each race to pre-covid levels. The Irish EBF had previously announced a record annual contribution of €2,500,000 to Irish racing for 2020 in response to the Covid-19 situation.
With racing now scheduled up to the beginning of August, there are ten Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction races and eleven of the new Irish EBF Median Sires races that will each benefit from the €1,000 prize-money boost. The first of the Irish EBF Median Sires races starts today at Fairyhouse and is now worth €25,000 in prize-money, where a maximum field of sixteen will line up to compete for the increased prize-money. The first of the Foran Equine Irish EBF auction maidens will commence at Roscommon racecourse on June 22nd with €20,000 on offer for connections followed the next day by two further races in the series, each worth €24,000, at Navan racecourse.
John O’Connor, Chairman, Irish EBF, said; “At this crucial time for the industry it is important to look after both of these vital race series and continue to offer connections of EBF eligible two-year-olds valuable race opportunities. We commend Horse Racing Ireland on successfully scheduling twenty one races from both series over June and July and we look forward to seeing connections reap the many benefits on offer.”
The new Irish EBF Median Sires series offers a range of valuable races for EBF eligible two-year-olds where the sire’s median price is no more than €75,000, €60,000 or €30,000 along with weight allowances for runners with a lower median sire price. To be eligible to enter the Foran Equine Irish EBF series a two-year-old must be bought for €72,000 or less from a designated yearling or breeze-up sale. Please see the HRI RAS site for full race qualifications https://www.hri-ras.ie/race-planning/qualifications/
ENDS
Mon 1 Jun 2020
At the start of May, the British European Breeders’ Fund (British EBF), which supports over 600 flat races a year, announced its aim to spend its full £1.68million of prize money enhancements in 2020, with a focus on the initial stages of resumption using the funds accrued during racing’s suspension.
Tuesday sees the organisation sponsor for the first time since the re-start at Kempton Park with support of the British EBF Unibet Snowdrop Fillies’ Listed Stakes the following day at the same track.
With a commitment to support divisions of any confined novice or maiden races run in June, the British EBF will be providing in excess of £140,000 of prize money enhancements to British racing during the first month of resumption. Their support covers 90 individual races, including 8 Listed races, each receiving £5,000.
British EBF Trustee and BHA Pattern Committee Member, Emma Berry commented:
“The return of British racing is of course welcomed across the industry and as the sport’s financial wheel starts to turn again, the British EBF is delighted to be able to provide a kickstart with vital extra funding derived from racing’s original self-help scheme. The British EBF has been working closely with the BHA to give its backing to almost 100 races in the first phase of the resumption to help stimulate the industry through enhanced prize-money at Listed level and below.”
Eye-catching graduates of last year’s EBF two-year-old races feature strongly this week as postponed Classics loom large in the programme. Wednesday 3rd June sees HYPOTHETICAL contest the Gr.3 Unibet Classic Trial Stakes under Frankie Dettori following the colt’s 5 length success in the EBF Future Stayers’ Series Stakes at Chelmsford in December for trainer John Gosden. While TREFOIL, CONVICT and KING CARNEY, all three winners of EBF Future Stayers’ Series races in 2019, hold entries in Listed races during the first week of the new season. This race series, spearheaded by the British EBF, is part of an industry wide promotion of juvenile opportunities for staying bred horses.
The British EBF makes annual prize money contributions of over £1.6million to flat racing. These are strategically focused towards developmental races and the support of specific areas (such as opportunities for fillies), deemed to be of overall benefit to the longevity of the industry and the breed. Looking ahead, the organisation is making plans to provide support for an extended flat programme in to November and December, ensuring appropriate support is offered throughout the season.
