 |
|
| Superadmin |
 |
On its 25 race days in 2023, the world-famous British racetrack Ascot will award a record £17 million (US$20.4m) in prize money. This includes the lucrative industry-owned British Champions Day card at the end of the season, but not the five-day Royal Ascot meeting in June.
The £17 million sum is an annual increase of £1.33 million (8.5%) compared to 2022 figures, and the £9.52 million prize pool for Royal Ascot 2023 is up from £8.65 million (10%) that year.
Director of racing and public affairs at Ascot, Nick Smith, expressed his excitement on breaking the £17 million prize-money barrier for the first time. Considering the fierce foreign competition for the greatest horses, "it's never been so necessary to focus on the top end of the British programme."
All Gr.1 races at Royal Ascot will be raced for a minimum of £600,000 for the first time with boosts to the King’s Stand, St James’s Palace, Gold Cup, Coronation Stakes and Commonwealth Cup (all £500,000 in 2022), while the Queen Anne will be worth £750,000 (£600,000 in 2022).
The Gr.2 King Edward VII Stakes will be enhanced to £250,000 (£225,000 in 2022) while two G2 races for fillies and mares – the Duke of Cambridge and Ribblesdale – are raised to £225,000 (from £175,000 and £200,000).
The prize money for the Gr.3 Hampton Court Stakes and the Jersey Stakes has been increased to £150,000 (from £100,000 and £110,000 respectively). No race at Royal Ascot will have a purse of less than £100,000 in 2022.
Outside Royal Ascot, the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup (L) meeting will be valued £640,000, a 15% increase, with all eight races run for £80,000 plus £25,000 in stable rewards once again paid. QIPCO King George Diamond Day will include the same consistent reward bonus.
In addition to the £50,000 Crocker Bulteel Maiden Stakes at the QIPCO King George Diamond Weekend, Ascot will also hold a £45,000 seven-furlong maiden race in September.
All Class 3 handicaps will be run for a minimum of £20,000, and no Flat race will be worth less than $15,000. Over jumps, no race will be conducted for less than £10,000, including National Hunt Flat Races.
Each Saturday meeting throughout the jumps season will feature a handicap with a minimum value of £100,000, while the Gr.1 Clarence House Chase and the Ascot Chase will both climb to £175,000 (from £150,000).