British EBF Announce £2 Million Support for Racing in 2025

[Wandering Eyes]

The British EBF has released details of its programme for 2025, featuring 700 races and £2 million of contributions to horse racing's prize-money from 35 British stallion studs.

Headlining the Flat racing initiatives is the British EBF 2yo Series, with a total prize fund of £2.3 million and two finals. They will each be worth £100,000, with the fillies' race set to take place at Goodwood on Wednesday, September 24, before the colts and geldings take centre stage at York on Friday, October 10. Over 170 restricted maiden and novice races, worth up to £30,000 each, act as qualifiers.

Any EBF eligible horse who finishes in the top six of a qualifier can enter one of the finals, with no early closing restrictions and no staged entry fees. Now in its fourth year, the series continues to strengthen, with previous graduates including the G3 Jersey Stakes third Streets Of Gold (Ire) (Havana Gold {Ire}) and Sunday's G3 Prix de la Grotte runner-up Shes Perfect (Ire) (Sioux Nation).

The British EBF will also offer increased support of the £3.3 million programme of High Value Development races in 2025, contributing £400,000 to the project.

“These races focus £3.3 million of prize-money into a vital, foundation area of the programme,” said British EBF chairman Simon Sweeting. “Our 2024 races produced fantastic graduates, led by Manton Thoroughbreds' Rashabar. Second in a British EBF maiden at Chester's May meeting, he went on to win a scintillating Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot and finished second in both the Group 1 Prix Morny and Prix Jean-Luc Lagadere. Our races alone have produced a further 10 stakes winners or performers, including Listed winners Englemere and Lady With The Lamp.”

With the BHA, Darley, Juddmonte and Tattersalls, the British EBF support 88 races for two-year-olds and three-year-olds, with minimum values of £40,000 for open maiden and novice races and £30,000 for restricted races. The collaboration is designed to provide owners and trainers with regular development opportunities and the ability to start making returns on training fees and the purchase price of a horse earlier in its career.

Meanwhile, the £250,000 British EBF Future Stayers Series celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2025, returning with a programme of 12 races run for no less than £20,000 (Class 4), rising to £30,000 for a Class 2.

It headlines the British EBF support for the breeding and racing of middle-distances horses, with races only open to the progeny of sires and dams who ran over 10 furlongs or more. Previous graduates of this series include the multiple Group 1 winners Cracksman (GB), Hurricane Lane (Ire) and Stradivarius (Ire).

British National Hunt racing will also continue to benefit from the support of the British EBF, with total prize-money exceeding £900,000 across its 80 races. For the first time this year they include a series of 19 junior hurdle races for National Hunt-bred horses, with over £150,000 on offer, designed to mirror the early education options available to National Hunt trainers in France and Ireland.

Support of two pilot equine veterinary research projects is another feature of the British EBF agenda for 2025, both of direct benefit to the Thoroughbred.

Sweeting added, “To date, the British EBF has directly funded over £1.3 million of equine veterinary research projects, in addition to our £42 million prize-money allocations, and we are pleased to be building on that support by fully funding two projects in 2025.

“The Trustees selected a study covering inbreeding depression in Thoroughbreds and methods for non-invasive diagnosis of Rhodococcus equi pneumonia in foals. Both subject areas are of importance to the long-term health of the Thoroughbred and we are delighted to be supporting the aims of the HBLB in this important work.”

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