2026 Ratecard Plus
Following the resumption of racing in June 2020 through to December 2021 a basic Ratecard model was used to distribute prize money grants. It offered a simplified method of funding involving a fixed payment being made to each race depending on the race class, type and minimum race value.
In 2022 a new mechanism, Ratecard Plus, was introduced. As well as receiving payments based on the minimum value of a race, racecourses were able to unlock additional funding from HBLB provided their own contribution (known as Executive Contribution (EC)) was above a minimum specified amount.
The 2026 Ratecard Plus mechanism works in the same way as the 2025 version but with the removal of the Premier and Core funding percentages. The 2026 mechanism includes different funding percentages to target specific parts of the race programme; e.g., whether a race is developmental and, within this, a staying or non-staying race.
The ratecard mechanism offers greater transparency of funding and provides incentives to racecourses to invest beyond minimum values, as what a racecourse receives from HBLB for each race is linked directly to the racecourse’s contribution to that race. It allocates funds between race types in a structured way so that a more strategic and consistent approach can be applied to how HBLB prize money funding is utilised across the programme of c.10,000 races staged every year.
Three payment bands exist for each race class and race type. The Flat 2yo programme is shown below, with an equivalent Ratecard existing for each part of the programme:
For illustrative purposes, two alternative funding scenarios are shown below for a Non-Developmental 2yo Class 4 Handicap race:
Example 1: Race staged at the minimum value of £6,950. HBLB total funding paid would be £6,950 x 34.90% = £2,425.55
Example 2: Race staged with prize money of £9,000. HBLB total funding paid would be (£6,950 x 34.90%) + (£2,050 x 35.00%) = £3,143.05
Ratecards for all parts of the race programme are available here.
The total amount available for Ratecard Plus funding in 2026 was budgeted at the start of 2026 at £60.67m. The allocation to prize money is intended to split funding c.61% to Flat racing and c.39% to Jump in accordance with the turnover generated by each code in 2024.