Total prize money slashed from £7.33m in 2019 to £3.68m for this year’s meeting despite six extra races on the schedule
The huge impact that the two-and-a-half month suspension and the ongoing requirement to race behind closed doors will have on the sport’s balance sheet was underlined on Thursday with confirmation that the prize fund for this year’s Royal meeting at Ascot will be nearly 50% below the total for 2019, despite six extra contests being added to the schedule.
There was £7.33m on offer for the 30 races at the Royal meeting 12 months ago with the prize funds for the meeting’s eight Group One events ranging from a minimum of £500,000 up to £750,000 for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. The total for this year’s meeting, which will open behind closed doors on 16 June, will drop by 49.8% to £3.68m, with all the Group One contests run for £250,000.