As part of the ARC £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus initiative, the Horse of The Month prize for December has been won by the Ed Dunlop-trained Havana Sky who sits at the top of the leaderboard for the month on 15 points. Connections of the 4-year-old will receive £20,000, with a separate payment of £5,000 to be made to stable staff associated with Havana Sky.
Now in its third season, the ARC £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus runs from Tuesday 22nd October and will culminate on Good Friday, 18th April 2025.
Points are awarded for finishing in 1st place down to 5th, and the horse with the most overall points at the end of the season will receive a bonus of £100,000 and be crowned Horse of The Year. Points are accrued in a horse’s first three runs in any monthly period at Lingfield Park, Newcastle, Southwell and Wolverhampton.
The five Horse of the Month competitions will operate in October/November, December, January, February and March/April. Similar to last season, the January competition will join February and March/April in offering £70,000 worth of prizes to the top three horses.
Swinging London, Alfheim, Rebel Empire and Paradoxical all finished tied in second position and will split the £15,000 purse for finishing runner-up between themselves.
Havana Sky racked up three victories over 6f in December, extending his overall winning run to five which consequently means he sits at the top of the Horse of The Year standings.
Trainer, Ed Dunlop, said, “We’ve been avidly tracking the competition throughout December. We thought this horse was the perfect horse to campaign as part of the initiative. We know how competitive it is, the ARC Horse of The Month has made a great difference to the All-Weather racing in the Winter. It’s made a great difference. The owners are thrilled they’ve won the bonus and I believe there’s a bonus for the staff too which makes it even better.”
For more information on the ARC £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus Scheme, please click here.
