Arena Racing Company (“ARC”) today confirm the return of the landmark £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus Scheme that is set to be won across the winter 2023, up to Good Friday 2024.
Horses racing across ARC’s four all-weather racecourses, Lingfield Park, Newcastle, Southwell and Wolverhampton will once again compete for a range of bonus prizes, including five ‘Horse of the Month’ competitions and the overall ‘Horse of the Year’ title, which carries a first prize of £100,000.
With similar rules to the inaugural competition, horses will accrue points for the finishing position in the first three runs in each month at an ARC all-weather racecourse, up to a total of fifteen qualifying runs across the season. The bonus scheme will include all races across the four ARC all-weather racecourses from Tuesday 17 October at Newcastle Racecourse to Good Friday, 29 March 2024.
The five Horse of the Month competitions will operate in October & November, December, January, February and March (up to, and including, Good Friday). New for this season, the January competition will join February and March in offering £70,000 worth of prizes to the top three horses.
A record of five wins, four seconds, two thirds and a fifth place from twelve qualifying runs across the 2022/23 season saw the Grant Tuer trained Walking on Clouds announced as the inaugural All-Weather Horse of the Year on Good Friday 2023. Once again, the Horse of the Year prize will pay prizes to the top twenty horses across the season. First place will receive £100,000, with £75,000 for second and £50,000 for third. The horse placed twentieth overall will win £10,000.
On Walking on Clouds winning the Horse of the Year first prize of £100,000, trainer Grant Tuer said, “I think it’s been a great competition. The makeup of the competition, with the monthly prizes and fact that there are twenty prizes in the Horse of the Year has been fantastic. It got everyone interested in it and everyone’s been talking about. We’ll certainly be having another go this year!”
Managing Director of ARC’s Racing Division, Mark Spincer said, “We are delighted to announce the second running of the £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus Scheme this winter. The competition proved incredibly popular in year one, and we were really pleased with the level of engagement from Owners and Trainers across the country. We are really looking forward to getting underway again in October and seeing who will come out on top come the end of the season”.
Included in the ARC £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus Scheme are prizes for the stable yards associated with the horses successful in each of the five Horse of the Month competitions as well as a cash prize for the top jockey and apprentice jockey (by wins) at each of ARC’s four all-weather racecourses over the season.
Star Apprentice Billy Loughnane was particularly successful in 2022/23, as he claimed the bonus for top apprentice jockey at Lingfield Park, Newcastle and Wolverhampton Racecourses, as well as being named Champion Apprentice Jockey in the All-Weather Championships, where Daniel Muscutt was named All-Weather Champion Jockey for the first time.
For the full terms and conditions for the ARC £1,000,000 Bonus Scheme, and for a full breakdown of the 2022/23 winners, please click here.
