BHA announcement

So the bonus will go to the current owner of the horse when it wins under rules. Is that how you read it ?

Tbf it doesn’t actually say how the bonus will be distributed. I imagine they hope it will work like the filly’s/mares GBB scheme in that a registered filly/mare is more attractive at the sales than an unregistered one so breeding GB foals is more attractive than sending mares abroad to foal and/or be covered. Which is showing results. GBB is paid out 65% racing owner, 20% breeder, 7.5% trainer, 2.5% stable staff

I think it's very difficult for anyone to give their views when the full details haven't been published. £250,000 is a lot of money .....what happens if only one of the winners from the qualifying races wins under rules....do they scoop the lot ? Where are the 15 races to be held.?...what distances ?....what age group ?. It seems a good idea on the face of it, but the BHA need to put some meat on the bones .

I'm not an area secretary, but those are my views.

I'm with Bob on this one - hard to comment without detail. For example, does the bonus money go to the vendor (on top of whatever they might make at the sales) or to the buyer (which would effectively be a discount on the purchase price)? What clauses are involved?

One difference between this and the JC Mares bonus scheme is that the Mares Maiden Final winners have generally tended to race under rules for the same connections who ran them in P2Ps, which is less likely to be the case for Young Horse Maiden winners.

If the races are going to be attractive for meetings to include them the sponsorship will need to be between £1-2k. Taking a median at £1.5k will leave enough to cover a maximum £15k bonus for each winner to aim for once they head under rules.

If they are putting up a good amount of sponsorship then that is something coming into pointing. If the prize money is strong and the winner has a bonus to aim at you would hope that there would be a good number of entries, which is also good for the meetings. A £15k bonus eligibility might encourage people to send their store to run in GB ptps rather than sending them to an Irish handler (which a lot of people do do).

So, even if the races are for horses that might not be career pointers, hopefully there should be a good amount filtering through to the sport.