22nd January - Arena Racing Company (“ARC”) are pleased to announce the trial of a new initiative aimed to directly benefit the Owners of horses running in selected fixtures in the first quarter of 2025.
This new ‘Floodlight Guarantee’ scheme will be in place across 49 floodlit fixtures on ARC racecourses from 1st February to 19th April 2025 and has been welcomed by the Racehorse Owners Association. ROA Chief Executive Louise Norman said, “We are pleased that ARC approached the ROA with this initiative which will directly support Owners during the trial, and we look forward to promoting it to Owners.”
The scheme will see that owners of all runners at these fixtures will receive a minimum of £200. Similar to previous industry initiatives, any horse that wins less than this amount in prize money will automatically receive a top up to £200, regardless of finishing position.
This new scheme sits alongside several others in operation across ARC racecourses during this period, most notably the £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus scheme, which includes a top prize of £100,000 for overall Horse of the Year, as well as monthly competitions worth £70,000 in February then March and April combined.
The All-Weather Championships season culminates at Newcastle Racecourse on Good Friday, 18 April 2025, with £1,050,000 in prize money available alongside the £395,000 All-Weather Vase fixture at Lingfield Park. Ahead of Finals Day, both sites also host valuable All-Weather Championships Trials Days, worth £285,000 each. Winning horses on both Trials Days will gain free entry to their respective Final at Newcastle and add £15,000 to their Finals Day prize should they subsequently win on Good Friday, or £35,000 if they win both Trials and also the subsequent Final.
ARC is proud to offer flexibility in the offer to racehorse owners looking to attend fixtures, with larger groups and syndicates able to claim up to twenty badges per runner and enjoy access to the Syndicate Lounge located on every ARC racecourse.
Commenting on the new scheme, Managing Director of ARC’s Racing Division, Mark Spincer said, “We are really pleased to work with the ROA to introduce this new scheme across a number of our fixtures in the second half of the winter flat season.
“We hope that this new scheme, alongside the others that we run through the winter will further encourage racehorse owners to consider an opportunity at an ARC racecourse. The scheme will be introduced on a trial basis for these three months, and we look forward to seeing how it works out in due course. Owners are, of course, hugely important to us, and we are delighted to work with the ROA to promote this scheme specifically.”
Louise Norman continued, “There is real challenge here and now for owners with horses competing at this level, including the increasing costs across 2025. Historically, runners at these fixtures are provided by over 35% of our membership, so we are very aware of these challenges and welcome such initiatives, given the financial pressures being experienced.
The ROA is here to support and champion the importance of owners to British Racing. By working with ARC we can continue to develop these initiatives that directly benefit owners, which alongside their additional bonus opportunities and dedicated owner experience developments demonstrate a step in the right direction which activate opportunities for owners whilst the Industry continues to work on the longer-term strategy.
This is a positive step which provides a direct bonus payment scheme for all owners’ across the qualifying fixtures which are popular for owners to attend, and we thank ARC for the approach and look forward to supporting this trial.”
