Not looking good across the water

I wouldn't be too concerned, it's a case of sounding the alarms before getting into negotiations.
 
Record prizemoney of €60.5 million for Irish racing in 2017

New €10,000 minimum race value will be a boost for the large majority of owners

<time title="Fri, Dec 16, 2016, 21:00">Fri, Dec 16, 2016, 21:00</time>
Brian O'Connor


The largest prizemoney pot in Irish racing history will be up for grabs in 2017 after confirmation that €60.5 million is in place for next year’s action.

Horse Racing Ireland has released its 2017 budget and next year’s prizemoney will trump the fund that was in place at the height of the economic boom in 2008 by €100,000.

The new minimum value for any race run in Ireland will be €10,000, an increase of €1,000, and HRI has indicated new base value increases will be targeted at race types where the largest section of the horse population, and the majority of owners, compete.

That means likely boosts to lower grade handicaps and ‘point of entry’ races such as flat maidens, bumpers, maiden hurdles and Beginners Chases.

With widespread concerns about competition levels, especially over jumps, racing’s ruling body has guaranteed at least one race worth €15,000 will be programmed each race day, with at least 75 per cent of fixtures containing a race worth at least €20,000.

HRI believe this will help smaller racecourses in particular to promote race days and such values are also intended to give more opportunities to smaller owners and trainers.

The 0.5 per cent levy paid by bookmakers in the under-pressure on-course market will be halved and HRI has indicated bookmaker charges will be further reduced in future.

A €9.6 million integrity service budget for 2017 includes €1.9 million of capital expenditure, which includes previously announced laboratory equipment for racing’s forensic unit, while point to points will see increased grants of €6,500 per meeting and a 55 per cent increase in prize money.

Grants of €1.35 million for the Irish Equine Centre and almost €1.1 million for Irish Thoroughbred Marketing have also been approved.

“The budget has an emphasis on improving the situation for many participants in the industry who have been struggling in recent years and is designed to deliver a positive impact throughout the country,” said HRI’s chief executive, Brian Kavanagh.
 
Heard on the radio this morning that it's 50 meetings for the year that TV3 have secured, including the Cheltenham festival. And yes I believe it starts on NYD.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk
 
http://www.irishracing.com/news?headline=2016-Thoroughbred-Industry-Statistics&prid=180273&prt=L

The numbers of horses in training in Ireland increased last year for the first time since the crash in 2008 and attendances edged upwards too.

Prize money was €56m, about €5m of which was won by British and French stables. Irish stables on the other hand picked up €26m in prize money outside Ireland, €15m of it in the UK, giving a net total of around €77m, or £64m, for money won by Irish stables. It's fair to say 2016 was a bonanza year in this regard with a record number of winners at both Cheltenham and Royal Ascot, the Grand National, Derby and Aidan O'Brien's Arc trifecta.

By way of comparison UK prize money in 2014 (couldn't find more recent data) was around £120m. Taking into account a net transfer of about €10m (£8m) to Irish stables, plus money won by French and other stables, the amount won by British stables in Britain was around £110m. But winnings by British stables in the rest of the world probably bring the figure back up to something very close to £120m.

This gives a ratio between money won by British and Irish stables last season of around 2:1.

The ration in the jumps sector would be a lot tighter, at around 60/40, because Irish prize money is split 50:50 between flat and jumps (€28m for each) whereas in Britain the split is 2:1 (£80m flat, £40m jumps).
 
granger said:
Pretty spot on regarding the pre Cheltenham train arranging of fixtures in Ireland

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/...ny-way-to-run-the-racing-business-439181.html
Click to expand...

It's a major issue and it's remarkable that the Irish horses have done so well at Cheltenham given the limited opportunities; particularly for novices. Bay of Freedom is not among the top novice chasers but his likely rating is such that there are only three 3-mile chases he could even run in before March. Two of them are novice chases but they are both Graded races and the other is the Thyestes at Gowran - it is very frustrating. We are almost forced to run in a race he is probably either not good enough for or lacks the experience.
Even when there is racing some of the ground conditions make trainers reluctant to run horses; especially if they are planning on Cheltenham. Naas would be a case in point; a course which can take a lot out of horse. Look at the Woodlands Park over the last 5 years; a Grade 2 novice over 3 miles ,the average field has been under 5 and many horses you would expect to turn up, with Cheltenham in mind, do not run
 
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No matter how bad things seem there is always Killarney in July.

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